My Superhero
by JesterChester
Summary: Rachel notices something about Santana, she might actually care about her. How will their relationship grow as Santana starts to open up, and Rachel can't help but wonder if there's something more to this.
1. Chapter 1

Santana's POV

"Just give it up Berry; you don't have to go after Finnocence all the time." I said watching the shorter girl pace back and forth in the choir room. Sure this may have been none of my business, but dammit I'm Santana motherfucking Lopez and I can say and do whatever I want. It didn't help that I had a deep rooted hate for T-Rex, which lead me to relentless tirades about him and Man-hands. I couldn't help being a bitch, honest, it was just part of who I was, but for once I was actually trying to help someone else out.

"And what makes you think I'd ever listen to you Santana? You've done nothing but ridicule me for years, and you've never said anything nice to me up until you said my Brittany Spears outfit didn't make me look like a perverted fantasy of a Japanese business man." I rolled my eyes and pretended like my nails were now the most interesting thing in the room.

"That was insulting." I muttered not really hurt by Berry's words, but more intrigued about the slight outburst by her. "Hey Prego tell treasure trail to lay off." I urged Quinn who looked up from whatever she was doodling in her notebook.

"Fuck off Santana; I'm not pregnant anymore, so you can stop calling me that." I don't know how the room ended up being filled with only girls, but it wasn't so bad. Sure the Asian, Aretha and Britt-Britt were all here alone with Quinn, Berry and I, but they didn't seem to want to get involved with this. "And as for Rachel, I agree with Santana, you don't have to go after him, as much as I hate to admit this and I really do…you might…well you…deserve better."

"As much as I appreciate all of your valuable opinions on this matter of the wounded and bleeding heart, I must say that I am still on the precipice of going back to him. On the one hand I have the option of staying with Finn and having a notable reputation at this school, without being slushied or harassed by various Neanderthals regarding my height or nose. On the other hand I can break up with him and fall from grace and regain my previous position as bottom of the pyramid…both choices would make excellent chapters in my autobiography." I rolled my eyes at this, didn't Berry ever shut up? What did she care about what other's thought about her? Going back to Finn would be a mistake, he didn't care about her, and Quinn was right the midget deserved better. Rachel wasn't so bad, she was actually sort of…_pretty_.

"Is an autobiography a biography about a car?" Brittany questioned with that innocent confused expression that never seemed to break away.

"God she's so stupid." The words were barley out of Tina's mouth before I was right in her face.

"Listen here chopsticks, the next time you want to open your little rice eatin mouth take another second and think about what you're saying and who you're sayin it too. You think this is bad? I'm about to take this to the streets of Lima Heights." It was doubtful that Rachel and Quinn would be able to hold me back but with the extra leverage of Mercedes, they were able to pull me to a seated position. "I'm sorry I didn't here you apologize." I said waiting.

"I'm so sorry Brittany." Tina said cowering in fear.

"It's okay Tina." Brittany said perking up.

"Santana I think it would be in your best interest to-." I didn't even let Berry finish, I had better places to be. I held up my hand as if to say _that's enough_ and I left the choir room without another word. "Santana!" I could here the little midget squeak as she trailed me down the hall. "Santana wait!" God was she going to follow me out to the car? I stopped just as I was about to open the doors leading out to the parking lot.

"What do you want Berry?" I asked annoyed.

"I want you to tell me why you care so much about Finn and I breaking up. I have exasperated myself in the daunting task of trying to understand you, but I simply cannot." She put her hands on her hips in a way that could only be described as childish, and somewhat _cute._

"I don't care about you and Finnessa, I care about myself." She gave me a puzzled look which only meant that I would have to explain further. "If you two get back together, then all that stupid drama is gonna start up again, which in turn royally fucks up our chances at nationals. I like to win; I want to win…so you should just dump him okay." Sure I had other motives, but none more believable than that.

"Are you just trying to play on my compulsive need to win, just so you can see me suffer in the long run because I'll be deprived of the basic need to love in my life?" She questioned all in one breath.

"You don't love him." It was a statement, which meant it left very little room for argument.

"And you know what love is?" Why did she always have to get so personal? Couldn't she just leave things like they were? I looked down at the ground trying to gather myself, before I said something stupid, or worse, cheesy.

"Yeah…I think I do." I said barley above a whisper. This is something that I'd noticed over the past two years. Rachel Berry may have been just some stupid midget, but sometimes she made me feel bare. Like vulnerable, and I absolutely hated that feeling. The diva was smart and quick to express her feelings, and that sort of kept me on my heels.

"Is that what you and Brittany have?" She said it so softly that I almost had to strain to hear her, but I heard her; there was no doubt about that.

"What?" I snapped forcing the doors open and walking towards my car. "I don't feel like that about her, she's my friend that's all."

"Santana it's okay if that's how you feel, I won't judge you." She held my wrist softly and I looked deep into those big chocolate eyes. I yanked my arm free of Rachel's grasp.

"I love our friendship, I love her innocence and the way she playfully jumps up and down when she's happy…but _I don't love her_." And I meant it.

Rachel's POV

Walking through the McKinley Halls like I owned the place was hard. Mostly because I was at the bottom of the pyramid again, and that was tough. As much as I wanted to give it another shot with Finn, I couldn't. He was just such a…jerk. He always treated me like we were together because we had to be, not because he loved me. Call me hopeless or a romantic, but don't call me crazy for listening to Santana. Sure she was sort of a cruel human being, but there was something about her that made me want to believe her. Or believe in her. And it was true; I probably needed something to believe in.

I was nearly at my locker when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned and what I saw made me shut my eyes and brace for impact. Dave Karofsky was standing there, with a slushy in his hand and a few other football jocks behind him. This made me regret breaking up with Finn, not because of being with him, but the reputation it gave me. If I was with Finn none of these guys would bother to slushy me, ever. But this is what I got, I chose with my heart and brain not with my hair or sweaters that would surely be ruined by the cold slush.

"Hold it Dickface." I opened my eyes to see Santana standing between Karofsky and I and I tried to hold back a smirk. Santana had a tight grip of Dave's arm and he looked visibly in pain. "I almost want you to throw this slushy, just so I can have another excuse to wipe the floor with you face. The first excuse being getting my boy Kurt to transfer, that my friend was the last straw, you're on thin ice. Now you've got a choice, ditch the slushy or have my hand so far down your throat that you'll be shittin rings." If I wasn't so thankful for Santana intervening I would have the empathy to feel fear for Dave. I watched as the boy pondered what Santana said for a moment and then him and his friends turned and walked away.

"That was very kind of you Santana." I said like a little girl being saved by superman.

"I didn't do it for you; I did it because I hate that asshole." I flinched at her vulgar language. "Plus you have a dog sweater on today…I love dogs." The grin on my face nearly knocked me over, I wasn't used to seeing the Latina be so open about her joy. It was rather charming actually. "What are you staring at midget?" She asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"I uh…well…sorry nothing." I couldn't believe how flustered I was. After years of training in speech and years on stage I would think that I would be immune to such difficulties. But there was something about Santana that always made me like this.

"Cat got your tongue?" Santana questioned as she leaned up against the locker in front of me. "Usually you'd be blabbering on about something or another."

"I don't see a cat." I didn't see Brittany come up behind me, but she was now standing so that her head was leaning over my shoulder and she was inspecting my mouth closely. I pulled back and closed my locker so that I could have more room to breathe. I glanced over at Santana who only chuckled lightly at the blondes antics. "Wait is the cat in Rachel's mouth?" Before Brittany could go on a full fledged search Santana pulled the girl to her side and calmed her down.

"There's no cat Britt, it's just a saying, now come on we're gonna be late for history." Santana said turning around with Brittany at her side.

"Was Donald Duck the 6th president or 7th?" I laughed out loud at the childishness of Brittany, but as amusing as that was, I was more interested in Santana. Why did she help me out? People saw her save me from the cold punishment of a slushy, so why did she do that? I guess it didn't matter, I was thankful that she saved me. She was like my superman.


	2. Chapter 2

**So I failed to mention that this story is slightly AU, takes place in the second season, but the timeline is not followed strictly. Some things worth noting: Santana is not on the Cheerios, Finn and Rachel have broken up, and Brittany and Santana are not together. Some things align with the show, but others don't. Anyway, this is my first story so reviews are welcome. **

Santana's POV

"Hold it, no way am I gonna sit back here and sway while Trouty Mouth sings a duet with Preggers. Nuh-uh, Shue, get your crap together cuz it ain't happenin." Sure I was mad, but not really about Sam getting to sing a duet with Quinn. People may know me as a bitch, whatever I'll play the part, but really all I wanted was to win. The truth is, we weren't going to win if Barbie and Ken sang, no, we needed someone with real talent.

"Santana, please I'm here to give everyone a chance. Including you…Sam and Quinn are getting the opening duet, but I was thinking you could take a solo." I looked at Mr. Shuester like he had lost his mine. _Me?_ I avoided looking at anyone but him, but I felt the stares of everyone in glee club on me. I swallowed hard and tried to cover my blush, why did he want to embarrass me in front of everyone like this.

"No." I said as calmly as I could as I slouched down a little lower in my chair.

"What do you mean no?" Mr. Shuester asked confused.

"I mean 'no', I'm not going to sing at Sectionals. I want to win, just like everyone else, and we won't do that with me singing a song. If we want to win we need…_Rachel_." The silence in the room let me know that I wasn't the only one surprised that I had just help boost Rachel's sweltering ego. When the diva stood and waltz up to the front of the room, I immediately regretted what I'd said. She was just going to go up there and talk about how much she deserved to get the best role for everything. "Shut up Berry." I scolded before she even got a chance to open her Barbara Streisand belting mouth.

"But…B-but I didn't even say anything." She managed to stutter out.

"But you were going to, and I don't need to regret my decision. You can have your stupid solo again Rachel, if that's what you want. As long as chubs doesn't sing with you." I said glaring at Finn before I stood up and exited the choir room without another word. I rushed over to my locker and grabbed my duffel bag. I knew I couldn't go home, that was the wrong place to be, maybe I could just go out to the field. School was basically over and the Cheerios would be out to practice in about ten minutes.

I slammed my locker shut and made a beeline for the bleechers outside. I didn't stop to talk to anyone, I just wasn't in the mood. I just wanted to be alone for a change. Alone felt good right now. I pulled out my headphones played a really soft tune and got comfortable laying down on my duffle with my legs lying flat on the bleechers. I could stay here forever. I wonder what would happen if I did. Would anyone care? Would I? If I did would-. "Ow!" I chirped practically falling off the bleechers and only regaining my balance because I put my arm out to brace my fall. "What the fuck is wrong with…" I looked up and rolled my eyes. "Berry, what do you want?" I asked taking my headphones out of my ear and looking up at the diva from a seated position.

"Oh my gosh, Santana I am so sorry. If you would like me to, I'll call the nurse and get her out here right now to examine you for any injuries-." I quickly stood up and put my hand over her mouth. I couldn't stand to hear her blabber on and on, couldn't she just get to the point? Her eyes went wide and I pulled my hand away fearful that she would scream because I'd touched her. Now we were standing facing each other and Berry looked like she didn't know what to say now. This was a real shock, I'd never seen her actually speechless. "We were all wondering where you were Santana? You just got up and left, it was like you'd taken storm out lessons from me." I let a quiet giggle escape from my lips and immediately covered my mouth. Shit. Why did I do that? Now she was smiling and it was literally destroying me on the inside not to just smile back, but I didn't. I refused to give in. "Were you lying?" She asked quietly fixing her skirt to make sure there were no creases in it before she took a seat next to me.

"Lying about what Berry?" I questioned raising an eyebrow.

"I don't deserve another solo; you were just saying that because you didn't want to perform one. You don't think I'm talented you're just embarrassed to be a part of this group." I hated that she was assuming things about me that weren't even close to being true, but what I hated more is that she was saying all these things with no conviction. This was Rachel Berry for Christ's sake; sure she lacked confidence when it came to boys or appearance, but never when it involved show choir. "I know you hate me, but you could at least be honest with me. If I don't deserve to have a solo then you should tell me. I want to be the best because I am, not because you're letting me outshine you." She looked up through those stupid thick eyelashes of hers and right into my eyes. I turned away watching the cheerleaders get into perfect formation, and Brittany do four back flips and into the splits. I let moments come and go, where I should've said something to Berry, but didn't. "And you called me Rachel in there, don't think I didn't notice. What has been going on with you? First you save me from Dave and then you give up your spotlight for me. Is this some evil plot? Is Quinn in on this as well?" I continued to let Berry talk and think whatever she wanted, but none of it was true. "Santana Lopez you'd better respond to me this instant or…or-…"

"Or what Berry?" I questioned with a smirk on my face.

"Or I'll be very upset with you." She said crossing her arms over her chest. I grabbed my duffel bag and stood up shaking my head at the lack of a verbal insult that I was waiting to hear from the diva. She tried to stay angry, but ended up with just a bewildered expression as she saw that I was about to leave. "Where are you going? You can't just ignore me!"

"You deserve the solo, and I'm not saying that as part of some sort of _scheme_, I mean it Rachel."


	3. Chapter 3

**kid2150: Yes Brittany is in the Cheerios, and I've decided that Quinn is as well, however Santana is defiantly off the squad.**

**100ways, Smudje, sawa255: thank you all for the reviews, it really means something to know that someone is taking an interest in this story.**

Rachel's POV

The only way to find out someone's true motives is to go right to the source. I had tried that with Santana but it didn't look like she was going to budge. I just needed the next best thing, and that was Brittany. Sure the blonde wasn't the brightest little star, but she was sweet and unlike Quinn I could actually approach her without any fear. The only problem would be getting her alone, without Santana, and getting her to comprehend what I was asking. Which brings me to the second problem. What was I asking? I knew something was going on with Santana, but I didn't know if it had anything to do with the way she was treating me.

"Hi Brittany." I said tapping her on the shoulder. Before I could get another word out of my mouth she was gripping me in a tight embrace for no apparent reason. "Brittany, I can't breathe." She let go of me and I nearly fell to the floor I was so exasperated.

"Hi Rachel." She said with the undoubtedly pure smile. "Did you shrink? You look shorter today." I looked down to see that the blonde was wearing boots which increased her height by about two inches. I wondered if Sue would say something about the boots not going with the uniform, but who could really get angry at the ditsy girl?

"Um…maybe, but that's not what I wanted to talk about. It's about Santana." Brittany nodded but then quickly looked to the ground like she was about to say something she wasn't supposed to. "She's been acting differently lately, has she told you anything?"

"I'm not supposed to say." Brittany muttered before turning quickly on her heels and practically running away from me. I stood there with my mouth agape not really knowing what to do. I'd ruined both my plans and there was now no other way of figuring things out.

"Hey Rach, what's going on? Why were you just talking to Brittany? And why did she run away? Did you use too many big words?" Kurt asked linking our arms so I was now forced to walk in stride with him.

"No, I asked her what was going on with Santana." I told him truthfully.

"Why do you want to know about Satan…I mean Santana." Kurt questioned as we stumbled into the noisy science classroom. We took our normal seats next to each other right up front partially waiting for Mr. Wilson, but also trying to continue our conversation. "Is this about the solo?" No it wasn't just about the solo, it was more about her than I thought. I cared about the Latina; we needed her ready for sectionals if we had any chance at winning. No, this wasn't even about sectionals, it was about the way she saved me and how she thought that I deserved better than Finn. Deep down inside she must care about me, she has to.

"Yes that's what it's about precisely." I lied adverting my gaze away from Kurt. I looked up and caught Santana walking in with Puck right behind her as they took their seat at the table beside Kurt and I.

"Okay class, this experiment involves groups of four, so you can stay with your lab partner, but please pair up with another group." The words were barley out of Mr. Wilson's mouth before I was tugging Kurt over to Puck and Santana's table.

"Hey Noah, Jews have to stick together right?" I asked with a perky smile, mostly directed at Santana but Noah grinned back. Kurt was too busy looking at me like I had gone mad to actually object to this pairing, and Santana seemed very indifferent.

"Shalom." Noah responded with a smile.

Although this was clearly supposed to be a group assignment, Kurt and Noah were mostly doing all the work while I was reading off the directions and bossing them around. Santana was leaning on the table face in her hands starring off into space mostly. I was completely focused on her, the way she pushed her hair back out of her face and always had that slight pout on her lips and how she never moved from that exact spot.

"…the next direction…Rachel…Rachel!" I turned just in time to see Kurt and Puck holding onto their goggles and trying to get my attention quickly. I saw that the bubbles in our tube were raising rapidly and I searched the paper I was holding in my hands for the next step. Now where did I stop off?

"Give me that!" Santana said snatching the paper from me and quickly glancing over it. "Add HCL." She said calmly before handing the sheet back to me. "Distracted?" She questions in a laid back voice that's only a little over a whisper. I looked into her eyes and knew that this wasn't the ideal place to ask her, but I wasn't ready to chase her down again. "Rachel what's wrong?" Anytime she used my first name I became instantly flustered. There was something so genuine about it that distracted me from everything, but her.

"Is there something going on with you? I've noticed a change; maybe something happened at home-." Even though the boys weren't paying attention to us, Santana certainly felt conscious of others around. She grabbed my wrist tightly and pulled me over so that we were standing side by side. She looked around and then her eyes darkened and she glared seemingly right through me.

"Berry, stop being so damn nosy. Nothing is going on with me, so just leave it okay." Santana said this so quickly that I almost missed it. Why was she so angry? And why didn't she just bash me in front of the whole class? She could've called me ugly or a stupid midget and walked away but instead she stood next to me for the rest of the class period.

I know she told me to leave her alone, but let's be honest here. This rejection would only make me more curious. So I did what I'd been doing for the past two days. I rushed to catch up to her and followed closely behind. "I've got an idea." I told her as she was piling food onto her lunch tray. I settled for a salad and followed her to a seat where it was only the two of us.

"What's your idea?" I didn't expect her to actually respond so it was a very nice surprise.

"You can help me pick out a song for sectionals." I offered still keeping my smile bright. I didn't want her to get scared away so I added, "it'll be fun I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep." Santana mumbled before eating a few fries. "Will you stop asking questions about me? Or bothering Brittany with your curiosity?" I guess I should have expected the blonde to tell Santana about my inquiries, but I didn't think Santana would be this calm about it.

"Of course." I lied though my teeth.

"Fine, tomorrow, I'll be at your house at eight." And with that Santana pulled out a paper bag and shoved the rest of the food she had gotten for lunch in there and left me sitting there alone.

Santana's POV

I cannot believe I was doing this. This was defiantly a new level of low, but Rachel promised that if I came she would stop asking about me, and that's all I really wanted. So maybe we'll just sit in her living room listening to old Streisand albums and randomly pick a song. That'll be it, that'll probably take like ten minutes and I'll be out of there.

I parked on the street just in case I had to make a quick getaway and I walked up Rachel's porch and rang the doorbell. My finger was barley off the button when the door flew open and Rachel was standing there. She was wearing her usual animal argyle sweater and short skirt with knee-high socks. It was a Friday night; didn't she ever get tired of those clothes?

"Welcome to my home Santana." I rolled my eyes at the girl's formalities and stood their awkwardly waiting for her to move out of the way so that I could actually walk inside. "If you would please remove your shoes, I'm sorry being so strict regarding the house rules, but my father's are not home and I would like to maintain our family trust." I walked past Rachel and took off my shoes, placing them neatly on the rug. Without my permission Rachel grabbed my hand and dragged me up the stairs as I was looking around and trying to take it all in.

Rachel's house, wasn't just your typical one, it was a home. A real home. It was warm and comfy and there were family photos everywhere. As we walked into Rachel's room the bright colors hit me as overdramatic at first, but then when I saw how many gold stars she had in there I couldn't help but smile a little.

"This is ridiculous." I mumbled to myself. Rachel didn't notice, but she did grab about twenty CD's and lay them out on her bed.

"Now, as you know, my voice is flawless, which means that I've got to delve deeper into my talents to bring a different and distinct emotional performance. I want to find a song that is beautiful and dramatic, now I know your voice isn't nearly as amazing as mine, but I'd still like your input on this." Yep that was Rachel, never out of subtle insults to someone's voice.

"Why don't you do a Streisand song and call it a day?" I offered weakly.

"Because everyone expects that."

"Fine, if you want something out there, and something no one expects you might as well do _Crazy on You _by Heart." I offered sitting down on her queen sized bed.

"But that song is so gritty and-." I cut off Rachel before she could finish, which was almost a habit by now.

"Unexpected." I finished for her. "Now I think my work here is done." I stretched out my arms, reaching them high above my head. Right then was the moment that I knew I'd made a mistake. My shirt had lifted up slightly and Rachel's face paled. I yanked my shirt down and looked away from her hoping that she would just keep her mouth shut for once.

"Santana!" She yelled clearly unable to control her voice as it cracked loudly.

"Rachel don't." I said pushing her hands away from me and standing up. "Just please…please don't." I didn't know what to do, so I did what I do best, I ran.


	4. Chapter 4

**Bottle it Up25**: thank you for the review, but you'll have to keep reading to find out what happened to Santana

**Smudje**: I'm glad you're hooked, I'll try and keep this interesting.

Rachel's POV

I didn't see her again until Monday morning. That was two full days of waiting, wanting to call her, and more waiting. No matter how many times I kept replaying those events in my mind, I could never look past that moment when her shirt lifted up ever so slightly. I felt chills every time those images came up. Her lower abdomen plagued with bruises, and…burns? I didn't know what they were exactly. Had she been in an accident?

Oh god, an accident? Really? Am I that naïve? This was no accident, and I knew that. Those scars come from abuse, and only abuse. And when I saw her that Monday morning, she didn't even look at me, she walked down the hallway with a completely blank stare on her face.

She was so indifferent lately, and it was really starting to worry me. Ever since she quit the Cheerios unexpectedly, she's been so blank. She might have had those moments of pure anger, or simple joy, but those were just two extremes, she was never just normal. Was she just going to pretend it didn't happen? I'd tried that, but it always came down to the fact that I just cared about her.

Walking up to Quinn Fabray meant desperation in my book, but I wasn't being picky now. "Quinn, can we talk?" I asked once all over her Cheerio friends left her standing at her locker as she picked up her history book.

"What do you want Treasure Trail? Looking for a razor blade to trim that little mustache of yours?" Didn't this ever get old for her, I questioned to myself.

"Look, this isn't about you or me…this is about Santana." I said quietly, carefully gauging her reaction. She tensed up slightly and made sure she didn't turn to face me even though she had closed her locker at this point. "You guys may not be as close as you used to be, but you're still friends. So if you cared about her you'd tell me if there was something going on." Quinn sighed rather loudly and turned to me with her back pressed against the locker.

"It's none of your business Berry, and even if it was I couldn't tell you anything. She opens up to me about almost everything, but this she's keeping to herself. So you can keep digging if you want, but I doubt she's gonna tell you anything." Why was everyone so snippy and rude? Santana could tell me if she wanted to, didn't she know I could be trusted. With the exception of when I told Finn that Quinn's baby was actually Puck's, I'm a pretty trustworthy person when it comes to secrets.

I rushed to science class just as Puck came speeding in behind me. My next move was risky, but I had to do it if I was going to get Santana to talk to me. I slid past Kurt and took the seat next to Santana, while Puck looked at me awkwardly before sitting down next to Kurt. Santana eyed me suspiciously before closing her notebook and waiting for Mr. Wilson to begin his lecture. I paid little attention to the lecture, instead I reached out and took Santana's notebook. I pulled out a piece of paper and used my pen to write her a note.

_We need to talk_.

Santana looked at the note for a second before writing her own response.

No, we're not talking about anything, because there's nothing to talk about.

I rolled my eyes at her response. There was plenty to talk about, she just didn't know how to handle me. Maybe I was the only person that would push the issue like this, but it needed to be done.

_At lunch we're talking. Meet me in the chorus room, and if you don't I'll never leave you alone._

The bell rang before Santana could respond, but the way she glanced back at me before she exited the room, made me think that she was considering it. So it was settled, it'd all be discussed in the chorus room. Now all I have to do is figure out what I'm going to say.

Santana's POV

I can't believe I let Rachel practically bribe me into coming to the chorus room. Didn't she know that I had to eat? Screw it, this was only going to take five minutes. I was going to tell her about my car crash, and then it'd all be over. Of course, I'd be completely lying, but sometimes lying helps more than it hurts.

I took one step into the room and I was met my the slow gentle sound of the piano, and the little diva sitting there playing the chords to a familiar tune.

_Set me free, leave me be. I don't want to fall another moment into your gravity.__  
><em>_Here I am and I stand so tall, just the way I'm supposed to be.__  
><em>_But you're on to me and all over me.___

_I live here on my knees as I__  
><em>_Try to make you see that you're__  
><em>_Everything I think I need here on the ground.__  
><em>_But you're neither friend nor foe though I__  
><em>_Can't seem to let you go.__  
><em>_The one thing that I still know is that you're keeping me down__  
><em>_You're keeping me down, yeah, yeah, yeah__  
><em>_You're onto me, onto me and all over___

_Something always brings me back to you__  
><em>_It never takes too long_

I didn't want to interrupt her, until she finished. I hate how breathless she made me every single time she preformed. She just put everything into the music and conveying the lyrics in a way that just made me feel. I hated that Rachel made me feel something, sometimes I wish I could just go numb.

I walked over and sat on the piano bench next to Rachel. We didn't say anything to each other for awhile. I could see that she had her hands at her side and she was looking right at the piano. "Sometimes I hate that you're perfect." I told her honestly, but she still didn't move or say anything.

"I'm far from perfect…you had scars on your stomach." She said bringing up the incident without any hesitation or warning. I was slightly caught off guard, but I regained my composure.

"They were from a car crash." I lied. I could tell she didn't believe me, by the furrow of her eyebrows. "Your voice blows me away every single time you sing." I was now looking her right in those chocolate eyes of hers. "You've got something, it's more than talent Rachel…it's magic." Rachel blushed ferociously and I perked up a little bit. "Oh and do yourself a favor, stop caring about me, it's not worth it." It sounded harsh, but it was true. Rachel didn't need to be wasting her time on me, no one did.

"It's worth it, you're worth it." I shook my head 'no' and stop up from the piano seat, and began walking away but I stop abruptly. "If you keep pushing away, I'm not afraid to follow you."

"It's a tough chase." I warned her.

"I could use a challenge." She replied.

**Song: Gravity by Sara Bareilles**_  
><em>


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks to everyone who keeps reading and reviewing. So I'm slowly developing the relationship between Rachel and Santana. You'll find out what's going on with Santana in later chapters, but right now this is getting into some Pezberry stuff. Anyway, enjoy.**

Rachel's POV

"Hey Santana, Brittany…and uh Rachel." Puck said swooping in from the hallway and walking over to the group of us already sitting down. "Party at my house, you two ladies want to come? Friday at nine." I looked down at the ground. It was typical; I never get invited to functions like this. Only the popular jocks and cheerleaders are there anyway.

"Two? But there are three of us?" Brittany said cocking her head to the side in confusion.

"Yeah, but Rachel doesn't want to go to this party." Puck tried to justify.

"Oh I'm sorry, I don't think I remember you asking her if she wanted to go or not." Santana said standing up for me. It was rather sweet actually, that she wasn't even afraid to say this in front of Brittany and Puck, who are two of the most popular people in school.

"It's okay; I don't think I'd want to go to a place where teens will be acting ruthless, and without the authority of adults there." Puck rolled his eyes and Santana looked at me for a second.

"Britt you should go." Santana told Brittany. "It won't be a party if you're not there showing off those amazing moves of yours." Santana added with a soft smile.

"But Sanni, aren't you gonna go with me?" Brittany pleaded holding the Latina's hand.

"Next time." Santana said pulling away from Brittany's grip as if to demonstrate that this was the end of the conversation. I don't get why Santana was doing this. She was being so sweet to me, even though she wasn't being perfectly open with me about it. She was going to miss out on a party because of me?

"Hey guys, today's lesson is about forbidden love and the disconnect between two lovers." Mr. Shuester said as he put down his bag and stood in front of the whole group.

"What does this have to do with anything? Is this about your divorce?" Tina questioned.

"Doesn't matter, I've got the perfect song. I don't know if it has anything to do with forbidden love or something cheesy like that. But it is by the boss, so I think that counts for something." Puck said smiling as he stood up.

Puck grabbed his guitar and started strumming so naturally like he always did. And then he opened up his mouth and started singing:

_I get up in the evening__  
><em>_and I ain't got nothing to say__  
><em>_I come home in the morning__  
><em>_I go to bed feeling the same way_

Sam jumped up and starting singing the next verse:_  
><em>

_I ain't nothing but tired__  
><em>_Man I'm just tired and bored with myself__  
><em>_Hey there baby, I could use just a little help_

He reached out and grabbed Quinn's hand so they could sing the chorus together. I kept looking over at Santana wondering if she wanted to join in and sing as much as I did, but she just closed her eyes and swayed a little by herself to the music.__

_You can't start a fire__  
><em>_You can't start a fire without a spark__  
><em>_This gun's for hire__  
><em>_even if we're just dancing in the dark_

Okay I couldn't help it I had to join in. I stood up and belted out the next lines by myself, getting a little back up help from Finn and Brittany.__

_Message keeps getting clearer__  
><em>_radio's on and I'm moving 'round the place__  
><em>_I check my look in the mirror__  
><em>_I wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face__  
><em>_Man I ain't getting nowhere__  
><em>_I'm just living in a dump like this__  
><em>_There's something happening somewhere_

I looked right at Santana before I sang the next line putting special emphasis on the word _baby_.

_baby I just know that there is_

_You can't start a fire  
>you can't start a fire without a spark<br>This gun's for hire  
>even if we're just dancing in the dark<br>_

Everyone had joined in at this time and I looked straight at Santana and skipped over to her. She may have objected a little but I pulled her up so she could sing with me. It was fun, and I've never felt happier singing a song than I was now, with Santana holding my hand and me listening to her raspy voice belting out the song with me.

___You sit around getting older__  
><em>_there's a joke here somewhere and it's on me__  
><em>_I'll shake this world off my shoulders__  
><em>_come on baby this laugh's on me___

_Stay on the streets of this town__  
><em>_and they'll be carving you up alright__  
><em>_They say you gotta stay hungry__  
><em>_hey baby I'm just about starving tonight__  
><em>_I'm dying for some action__  
><em>_I'm sick of sitting 'round here trying to write this book__  
><em>_I need a love reaction__  
><em>_come on now baby gimme just one look___

_You can't start a fire sitting 'round crying over a broken heart__  
><em>_This gun's for hire__  
><em>_Even if we're just dancing in the dark__  
><em>_You can't start a fire worrying about your little world falling apart__  
><em>_This gun's for hire__  
><em>_Even if we're just dancing in the dark__  
><em>_Even if we're just dancing in the dark__  
><em>_Even if we're just dancing in the dark__  
><em>_Even if we're just dancing in the dark__  
><em>_Hey baby_

We were all close together laughing and just enjoying the fact that we'd all made something beautiful together. Even Mr. Shuester was applauding our song choice. We were dismissed early and people rushed out towards their cars or to the locker rooms to change for practice. Once again it was just Santana and I in the room. She was putting her things in her duffle bag and I was sitting in my chair awkwardly.

"You can go to Puck's party if you want." I told Santana honestly.

"Oh I'm going." She told me lifting the bag over her shoulder. "I'm going and so are you. I'll pick you up at 9:15, fashionably late is the way to go short stack."

Santana's POV

The week went by a lot quicker than I thought. Sooner than I knew it, Friday rolled around and I was driving over to Rachel's house. I pulled in and was knocking at her door by nine o'clock. I didn't expect the diva to open the door so quickly or to be wearing something _normal_. She had on one of her typical short skirts, but instead of high socks and boring shoes, she was wearing modest heels and her legs we bare. She even had on a tank top instead of those lame sweaters.

I knew I must have been staring because Rachel cleared her throat and I immediately looked away from her body blushing slightly at being caught. "You ready to go?" I asked her.

"Yeah let's go." Rachel responded closing the door behind her. As soon as we stepped outside I saw Goosebumps on her arms. I took off my leather jacket and handed it to her. "You don't have to."

"I want to." I responded as we got into my car. It didn't take long to get to Puck's house, but when we got there, it was clear that Rachel was a little nervous. "It's just a party, if you want to leave, just tell me." I told her before we walked inside. It was too difficult staying together while we were there, so I just went to the kitchen and got a few drinks in.

"Santana, you wanna go upstairs?" Puck said winking at me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and tried to lean in for a kiss.

"Not gonna happen." I told him pushing him away from me. I grabbed another drink and looked across the living room, just to see that Rachel was talking to Finn and she looked increasingly aggravated. I took one more shot, and walked across the room and up to Finn and Rachel. "Hey gigantor." I said smugly just as I was starting to feel the buzz.

"Santana, what do you want?" Finn asked rudely. I was about to go off on him, but Brittany walked up to me and pulled my arm.

"Sanni, dance with me." The blonde said, tugging me towards the dance floor without even waiting for me to respond. I didn't mind that Brittany was a far superior dancer than me, and I didn't even mind that she was practically showing me up like I was a idiot right now. All I knew was that I was drunk, and Brittany was smiling like a goofball right now. "I'm really thirsty." Brittany said suddenly. She rushed over to Rachel, grabbed her and practically threw her in my arms. "Here dance with Rachel until I get back." Brittany demanded.

I looked down at Rachel who looked like she was hesitant. I smiled a little and wrapped my arms around her waist and she put hers around my neck. We were swaying back and forth gently until the beat of the music changed from slow a slow to a quick beat. I turned Rachel around with my hands so that her back was against my chest. She was grinding into my body without slowing down. I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her into my body as close as I could. My nails grazed the skin high on Rachel's thigh and I decided to pull back a little bit.

I brushed Rachel's hair over her left shoulder and nuzzled up close to Rachel's neck. I moved my hips against hers and grinded into her body harder. Jesus, alcohol made me crazy for Rachel Berry. "You don't mind this?" I whispered into her ear. Both my hands were on her hips and I felt like I was going to do something insane.

"No." Rachel breathed out. "You really know how to dance." She leaned back and looked right into my eyes and I could see that her pupils were twice their normal size. She turned around and she was about to say something when Brittany came back.

"Santana, you don't look so good. You're breathing really hard, and your blushing really bad." Brittany told me. I couldn't keep my eyes off of Rachel though. I've never seen her look so _sexy_. This is what I get for being nice to her. This is exactly what I get. Dammit, I like her, and there's nothing I can do to suppress my stupid emotions. That damn Rachel Berry and her damn stupid beauty.


	6. Chapter 6

**I forgot to mention that the song in the previous chapter is 'Dancing in the Dark' by Bruce Springsteen. **

**lily loveless: **thank you for the review, I liked writing the sexy dance, it was fun. Hopefully you'll like this next chapter.

**slushied:** I'm happy you liked those lines, and I hope you keep reading and reviewing.

**We'll Be A Dream:** Here's my update, I hope you like it.

Rachel's POV

"Jesus, she is hammered." Puck told me as we were dragging Santana into his car. She was resisting, yelling at Puck to give her the keys to her car so she could leave herself. She was not in the state to drive or do anything for that matter. "I'll take you guys to your house Rachel." Puck said as he slammed the back door shut.

"I'll see if I can get my father's to take Santana home-." Santana sat up in the back and shook her head ferociously.

"No, I don't want your dad's to have this impression of me. They have probably already heard horror stories of the bitch Santana Lopez." Santana was trying to fix things and rationalize but she was too drunk to do either. "I'll walk home." She decided once we'd arrive at my house.

"Don't be silly, come inside…you can sleep over and I'll drive you to pick up your car tomorrow." I offered, thinking that this was the best plan. Santana leaned back in the seat and groaned.

"I can't, I don't want to intrude-." I cut her off by pulling her out of Puck's car. I thanked the mohawked boy before he drove off, and walked Santana up my front porch. "Rachel, really you don't have to do this. I'll go." I ignored her hesitation as we walked up the stairs and into my room.

"You don't have to go anywhere." I assured her as I rummaged through my closet for some extra sleepwear. All I could find were some tiny shorts and a white tank top. I handed them to Santana and sent her off to the bathroom, so she could shower and freshen up before we went to bed. I waited patiently, sitting on my bed and shifting my weight every once in awhile. After about fifteen minutes Santana peeked her head out of my bathroom and looked over at me.

"These shorts are really short Berry." She blushed slightly as she emerged from the bathroom, and that's when I realized she wasn't kidding. I could see the entirety of her long tanned legs as she walked over and sat next to me on the bed. "Aren't you gonna shower?" Santana asked after awhile of me staring at her like a complete idiot.

"Uh…yeah." I quickly got up and grabbed my pajama pants and a t-shirt and slipped into the bathroom. It took more time for me to get ready, so when I emerged from the bathroom I expected Santana to be fast asleep. Instead, she was seated in the same position that I'd left her in. "Aren't you tired?" I asked running my hands through my hair.

"Yeah but…well I didn't know where your couch was." She said.

"Why do you need to know where my couch is? You can sleep in the same bed as me." Santana raised an eyebrow.

"See now that just seems like I'm intruding, if you just hand me a blanket then I can crash on the floor." Santana offered standing up from the bed and beginning to sit down on the ground. I grabbed her hand and pushed her back on the bed. She was propped up on her elbows and looking at me with a small grin on her face. "God Berry, aggressive much." She didn't protest anymore, she just got under the covers and lifted them up for me. I turned off the lights and quietly laid down next to her.

I looked up at the ceiling, debating whether or not to say anything. Santana rolled over to her side away from me, and I heard her breathing slow down and felt no more movement. She was defiantly asleep now, but why couldn't I fall asleep? Maybe this had something to do with the fact that I had Santana Lopez in my bed next to me, and she wasn't running away. She wasn't running because she was drunk, that had to be the reason.

I turned my head and looked at the Latina's messy hair and then down at her toned shoulders. I wondered how she was able to stay in such amazing shape, if she wasn't still a cheerleader. My eyes roamed until the covers were obstructing my view. I thought back to that time when I saw her stomach, battered and bruised. I had to see again.

She was practically hibernating, so I pulled the covers down so that I could see the hem of the tank top she was wearing. I slowly reached out my hand to touch her bare skin, and let them stay them for a second. "What are you doing?" Santana breathed out rolling over so that she could face me. Even in the dark of night, I could still see the look of slight fear and confusion in her eyes.

"N-nothing." I stammered out. Santana moved so that she was sitting up and looking down at me.

"No, something is wrong. I did something wrong." It was like she was frantically trying to figure out how she had messed up. Like everything was all her fault. "I scared you when we were dancing, is that it? I'm so sorry Rachel, I didn't mean to freak you out, I just get like that when I'm drunk." She apologized. "Jesus, I always fuck up like this-."

"Santana, you didn't do anything wrong." I assured her pulling the cover up so that she would return to her previous position. She looked into my eyes for a second, just to make sure I was being honest with her. "I liked dancing with you." I was glad that it was nighttime, otherwise Santana would be able to clearly see the pink tint across my face.

"I liked dancing with you too."

Santana's POV

I blame my mother for all of this. If she hadn't gotten me _Snix_, my favorite teddy bear, then I wouldn't have a compulsive need to cuddle when I go to sleep. I don't really remember much from last night, but I do remember dancing with Rachel and going to sleep in her bed. I guess that's why I wasn't completely shocked when I woke up and had both my arms wrapped around Rachel, and we were spooning so close she was practically on top of me. What scared me the most, is that I wasn't pulling back now that I was awake. This was because of two things: one, I had a major hangover and Rachel's hair was blocking the sun illuminating her room, and if she moved my head would probably explode. And two, because Rachel had a surprisingly cozy body, and really toned abs. Ballet must be doing wonders for her.

I snuggled up closer to her once I realized she was awake and trying to gradually get out of the bed. "Santana." She said giggling a little and trying to turn her head back to look at me, but I just pulled her in tighter. "Are you awake? I have to get up." She giggled again and I knew that her laugh was something I could really get used to hearing more often.

"No you don't." I told her as my nose was nuzzling her jaw line. "Stay here." I demanded.

"And when do you suppose we'll get up then?" She asked me.

"Never." I responded. "_Happy days are here again…the skies above are clear again…so let's sing a song of cheer again_." I sung just barley above a whisper into her ears.

"Santana, you're singing Barbra!" Rachel exclaimed forcibly turning around and facing me. I still had my arms wrapped around her, but my head was now pressed against the pillow so I wouldn't have to see the sunlight.

"You were singing it last night. I guess it's not really that surprising that you _sleep-sing_." I told her with a smile. I pulled my arms back and made a weak attempt at sitting up. "Do you have any aspirin?" She jumped up out of the bed and rushed to her bathroom, coming back in less than a minute with a class of water and two aspirins. "Thank you." She watched me take the pills and down the glass of water. "Are your father's home?" I asked watching as the diva looked in her closet for something to wear.

"No they've gone off to work." Rachel told me. I noticed that Rachel grabbed jeans and a fitted t-shirt to wear today.

"You should wear stuff like that more often." I said trying to hide the fact that my cheeks were warming up.

"Why?" Rachel teased.

"Oh god you're gonna make me say it aren't you?" Rachel nodded while keeping that signature grin on her face. "You looked very nice yesterday."

"Very nice huh?" Rachel said smiling to herself. "So would you like me to make breakfast for you?" She asked after awhile.

"No it's okay, I'm gonna call Puck and have him take me back to my car." I told her as I found my clothes in a folded pile right on Rachel's desk chair. I put on my pants over the shorts that Rachel let me wear last night, and threw my t-shirt on over the tank top. "Uh…I'll wash this stuff and give it to you Monday, alright." Rachel nodded.

"I'll see you Monday." She said as she stood in her room clearly holding back from saying something, and just allowing me to leave. I knew she wanted to speak up, but what was stopping her? What did she want to say?

**The song that Santana sorta half sings is Happy Days Are Here Again by Barbra Streisand**.


	7. Chapter 7

**So I guess this chapter has some slight angst, but it's not too bad. **

**OTHangels: **here's my update, and thanks for the review. I'm really enjoying writing this.

**lily loveless is so sexy: **Thanks for the review, a kiss will come soon I promise, but not in this chapter, sorry.

Rachel's POV

The next time I saw Santana was when she was on the floor. She wasn't sitting down, or even laying down, she was knocking the teeth out of a junior boy whom is only nameless in my mind. I guess I should rewind slightly, to explain why she was punching this kid's face in.

_I was walking down the hallway, wondering if Mercedes and Sam had a fling going on, and then I saw Santana and Brittany walking down the hallway. Santana seemed to have been laughing at something Brittany had said, and I've never really seen her that calm. Her guard was completely down. _

_I saw the nameless jock walk up to the girls. I took a step over so I could hear what he was saying. "…stop being a retard, let me take you home with me." I knew he was talking to Brittany by the way her face scrunched up and she began to cry softly. The jock then continued to smirk and he reached out and palmed Brittany's butt, and that's when Santana snapped._

_She dropped her backpack and tackled the boy to the ground. Within milliseconds she was punching the boy repeatedly, and people just stood around watching. I knew that there would be a teacher running over here in just mere moments and I couldn't risk Santana getting caught like this. _

So here I was, watching just as everyone else was, and then I suddenly gained a backbone. I ran over and grabbed Santana's left arm, it was her dominant one, the bruises and black eye on the jock's right side of his face told me that. I pulled her back with all the strength I could muster up, and I wrapped my arms around her arms trying to get her to calm down. She was clearly stronger than I was, so I knew she was giving in because she knew that killing someone was probably not the best idea.

"Don't you ever fucking say something like that to Brittany again!" She yelled at the battered boy. "Don't touch her either, you'll be dead if I catch you looking at her, you got that?" He nodded looking terrified as he stumbled to his feet and ran away. I was still holding Santana, but once the mutters in the crowd cleared and people started heading off to class, I let her go.

"Britt, are you okay?" Santana asked the blonde who was trying to wipe her tears away. Santana slowly walked over and hugged the sobbing girl. "I won't ever let anyone speak to you like that again, if someone touches you or hurts you in any way, tell me." Santana pulled back and held the girl's face in her hands. "Okay?"

"You're the bestest friend anyone can have." Brittany said kissing Santana's cheek. I looked away feeling that I shouldn't be seeing this. Brittany smiled again before she waved to me and Santana and headed off to Spanish class.

I looked down bashfully at my feet not knowing if I should leave or say something. Luckily, Santana saved me the embarrassment. "Usually when people try to hold me back they end up with a busted lip."

"Your hand." I said pointedly nodding at the few cuts and blood covering her knuckles. I pushed her into the girl's bathroom and pulled a chair in behind us. Santana sat down with the back of the chair between her leg and her hand hovering over the sink. She looked up at me and she looked just like a child, waiting for her mother to fix up her wound. "You want me to take care of that?" I asked rolling up my sleeves and turning on the water.

"Please." She said turning away as I began cleaning her cuts. I took off my backpack and pulled alcohol pads and band aids out of the front pockets. I fixed up her hand with _Toy Story _band aids and she smiled back at me. "You keep all this stuff in your backpack all the time?" She questioned before turning off the faucet and standing up to face me.

"Yeah, I'm always prepared for every kind of situation." I reminded her.

"You'd tell me if someone had hurt you right?" Santana asked as she leaned up against the sink. This question could only mean one thing. We were friends; only friends ask things like that. "If someone does, I'll take care of it for you Rachel."

"I know you'll take care of it." I said thinking back to the way she beat up that jock. I remembered the bruises on Santana's body. "And if someone was hurting you…would you tell me?" I asked shyly.

"No…I wouldn't."

Santana's POV

"What do you think you're doing?" I turned around just in time to see Quinn walking over to me with a sly grin on her face. "I saw you at the party dry humping the dwarf, what gives?" I rolled my eyes at her and continued putting books in my duffle bag.

"Oh shut it Pregs." I said trying to be dismissive with less aggressiveness than usual. "I've been hanging out with Rachel, so what? You jealous?"

"Oh please, me jealous of her? I'm just wondering why you all of a sudden have a heart for someone other than Brittany." Quinn pointed out. "So what is it? You can't just ignore me S, come on. I've known you since we were two."

"That doesn't mean anything Quinn." I said zipping up my duffle bag and slinging it over my shoulder. "You just want to hurt her, that's why you all of a sudden trying to get back in the saddle with Hudson."

"This is about you Santana." Quinn reminded me. I was about to leave the locker room and walk out to my car, but Quinn stopped me. "He kicked you out didn't he? That's why you're hanging with Berry, because you need a place to crash. You could've just asked me Lopez, my house is open." Shit, couldn't she just mind her own business for once?

"That's not my reasoning." I guaranteed her. "Look, it got bad a few weeks ago…I needed out, and he threw me out, but this has nothing to do with Rachel."

"How bad?" Quinn asked reaching out and grabbing my wrist. "I've seen your scars before Santana. I've seen you in the hospital because of him." Sometimes I wished I had just kept the abuse a secret. Then Brittany and Quinn wouldn't have to feel sorry for me all the time. But they knew, and because of that they always felt like they needed to look out for me.

"Quinn don't make me." My voice sounded so weak that I almost jumped back.

"Santana, show me." She commanded. I thought for a moment about arguing with Quinn, but I was too tired to put up the effort. I dropped my duffle bag and raised my shirt so he could see the scars on my stomach. She gasped and reached out her hands to touched them but I pulled away. "Oh god-."

"Don't…" I warned her trying to keep the situation under control. "Look, I gotta go. Keep this quiet Quinn, you know why."

"Be careful Santana." Quinn shouted as I exited the locker room.


	8. Chapter 8

**lily loveless: **yes Santana is being abused, but there will be a little twist about that later.

**Ridderres: **will do, I promise to continue with this.

**slushied: **Thank you for the compliments, I think that Rachel deals with the 'new' Santana in a very open and friendly way.

**Anyway, here's the next chapter:**

Santana's POV

I pulled a change of clothes out of the trunk and quickly changed in the backseat of my car before I walked over to the back of the Berry's house. I grabbed a few pebbles and chucked them at her window. It only took a few moments for her to lift up her window and peer out down at me.

"There's a thing called a doorbell." She informed me. I looked at the tree that conveniently led up to her window. I pulled my duffle bag in closer to my body and climbed up the tree without hesitation or taking more than five seconds. "Okay Spiderman." Rachel said giggling as she opened the window wider and let me into her room.

"That's Spider-woman to you." I said smiling as I placed my duffle bag softly on her floor. "So, I was looking for you everywhere after school. Where'd you go so quickly?" I asked her as I took a seat on her bed. She looked uneasy, which made me think that something was obviously wrong.

"I went to return your jacket, but you weren't there." She said taking a seat next to me.

"There? Where?" I asked her.

"At your house." I froze in place. Rachel had gone to my house? How did she even know where I lived? Shit, who had opened the door? If it was my father then I hoped she hadn't stayed too long. But what if Justin had answered the door? Then he would've spilled his guts, that blabbering fool. "Why didn't you tell me that you got kicked out of your house?" She asked sheepishly.

"Rachel it's nothing-." I tried to justify but she wouldn't let me finish.

"It certainly seems like something. This is something you should've told me. I may not be able to understand completely, but I could at least help you." She said clearly frustrated. "What happened?" She asked once she had completely calmed down.

"You saw me lose my cool today, that's not the only time it's happened…I can't control my temper Rachel." I knew that I was lying to her, but I couldn't tell her the truth. Rachel was persistent, and she wouldn't let it go if I told her everything.

"Where have you been staying then?" She stood up and began pacing slowly. "Your car." She realized almost sadistically amused by the fact that I was hiding this all from her. She shook her head in disbelief and then looked right at me. "That's it." She stormed out of her room and bolted down the stairs. I had no other options except to run after her and follow her to my car. She opened my car door and popped up the trunk. She was on a rampage, grabbing all my clothes and rushing them into her house and up to her room.

"Rachel wait!" I said trying to stop her from putting my stuff in her room, but she just slid right past me every time. "What are you doing?" I questioned once nearly all of my stuff was up in her room.

"I'm not going to let you sleep in your car. You can stay here with me." I reached out and grabbed her hand as she was about to take another step up towards her room. I pulled her in close to me. "You're not going to push me away." She whispered into my ear, as she latched her arms around my neck.

"God I wouldn't dream of it Berry." I tightened the hug and nuzzled up closer to her. I smiled as we continued hugging and Rachel showed no signs of letting me go. I bent down and wrapped my arms around Rachel's thighs and picked her up with the upper half of her body over my shoulder. Rachel squealed and tried to get down, playfully hitting my back to get me to drop her.

"Let me down this instant Santana Lopez!" She said as I opened her bedroom door.

"Okay." I said with a grin on my face. I dropped Rachel on the bed and watched in amusement as she wore a flustered and aggravated expression. God she looked so adorable, I wish she would pout like that more often. I jumped on the bed straddling her hips and her expression changed to complete shock. "Come on give me one of those million dollar smiles." Rachel shut her mouth tightly which only made me sure that she wanted to play around.

I began tickling her ferociously on her stomach until she couldn't help but laugh. She tried to roll over but I squeezed my knees to her hips so she didn't have much leeway. "Okay! Okay you win!" She said in between giggles.

I stopped my tickle attack but I didn't move. Rachel was laying under me looking up at me with the most beautiful sheepish smile on her face. She wanted me to kiss her, I know she did. I licked my lips and looked down at those plump pink lips of Rachel's. I leaned down and I was centimeters away from connecting our lips when Rachel's phone buzzed.

She blinked twice before sitting up on her elbows and reaching over to pick up her phone. She flipped open the phone and looked up at me while putting it to her ear. "Yes…no you've got the wrong number…no it's okay…I hope you find the right number for Ronald." I can't believe this. Some stupid asshole couldn't dial the right digits and they just ruined my opportunity to kiss her.

"Stupid Ronald." I said realizing that I had no hope of salvaging the situation.

"Yeah…he ruined everything."

Rachel's POV

We were so close to kissing earlier, I didn't think it was possible to get things to return to normal, but it was surprisingly easy. Santana was leaning against the headboard of my bed and I was sitting at my desk trying to figure out a math problem. I looked back at Santana and she looked up from the magazine she was reading. "You look like you need help." She said without even looking up.

"No, I don't." I lied as I quickly turned back to my paper. I didn't notice that Santana had gotten up until she was hovering above my head with an arm on either side of me. "What are you doing?" I asked quietly.

"Trying to help you." She said scanning the paper and thinking for a moment. "58.79." She said before she returned back to her place on the bed.

"What?" I said in disbelief.

"The answer if 58.79." She repeated nonchalantly. "I can be a little nerdy sometimes." She said ducking her head a little to avoid my curious gaze.

"Well I think it's kinda cute." I told her honest. "Hey, I've got a question?" She looked a little worried now. I knew that I could ask too much too soon, but this was just something small. She nodded even though I knew she was nervous. "Will you sing a song with me in Glee club?" I expected an immediate 'no' in response, but when I didn't hear an answer I looked back to see if Santana was still paying attention.

"But won't I mess up-."

"No you won't mess up anything…I just want to sing something fun…with you." She nodded and then held a big grin on her face. "What are you smiling about?"

"You."


	9. Chapter 9

**This chapter is all Santana, I'll have Rachel's POV in the next chapter.**

**Princesakarlita**: Thanks for the review and here is more for you to read.

**dogsrock7699:** yeah I love me some Pezberry as well, they're awesome together.

Santana's POV

Breakfast with the Berrys was very awkward. I didn't know what to say to Mr. and _Mr. _Berry. They were both sweet to me, and always told me that I could call the by their first names, but I just couldn't. I was always taught to speak to adults in a certain way, and that can never change. Some days Rachel would cook, and other's her dad would. He'd make something with meat just for me, because he thought that I was looking a little weakened.

"You don't have to make me breakfast everyday." I whispered to Rachel when her fathers were up cleaning their plates.

"And then what would you eat?" Rachel asked me propping her face up on her hand. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day Santana." Rachel reminded me.

"But your family has to pay so much more just to have me around." I said sulking a little lower in my seat.

"Rachel and Santana, we'll see you two Monday, we're going to have a little bit of parent time in Orlando." Mr. Berry shouted as he was lugging his and his partner's suitcase down the stairs. They both came over and kissed Rachel, before they headed out the door.

"They're really kind people, your whole family is." I told Rachel once the house had been silent for a few moments and I could no longer hear the car in the driveway. "I'll drive you to school today." I said standing up quickly and starting to wash the dishes. Rachel sighed and walked up behind me.

"Stop that, silly pants." Rachel said playfully. "Now come on before we're late for school." We grabbed our backpacks and locked the doors before we went out to my car. I opened the passenger's door for Rachel and her cheeks reddened before I got into the driver's seat.

"You ready shorty." I said smiling over at her as I backed out of the driveway.

"Santana look at the road!" Rachel said as I was continuously glancing over at her. If it was possible, she looked even cuter than normal. She was wearing an extremely short skirt and a cute winter sweater with polar bears on the front.

"I can't help it, you look so cute today." I sort of let that slip out, but I couldn't take it back could I? I don't know how she took it because I purposefully looked away from her, and tried desperately to cover my face I was blushing that badly. I pulled into the student parking lot and we rushed off to class.

"Hey Hudson, come over here and talk to Auntie Tana for a second." I said waving the giant ogre over to me. He looked confused, as per usual, but he walked over to my locker nonetheless.

"What do you want Santana? Here to make fun of me again?" He asked rudely.

"First off, I don't need the sass green giant, I'm just trying to talk. And believe me you're the last person I'd ever want to be talking to right now, but you're pretty much my only option." He nodded and kept his gaze down like he was racking his brain for a witty comeback, but I stopped him before he could hurt himself thinking. "Now you have the most experience singing with Rachel, and even though your stupid constipated face and weak vocal chords usually get in the way of Rachel's absolute perfection, you still have sung with her countless times. So how does that all work out? Do you choose a song together or what?"

"She usually starts singing and we just wing it from there…why are you-."

"That will be all, now run along." I said rolling my eyes as he visibly deflated and walked away without any protesting. Rachel had mentioned that she wanted to sing a song with me, but she never brought it up after that day. Was she waiting for me to say something about it? Or was she only saying that to make me feel more welcome in her home?

Well either way, we had Glee in five minutes and I ought to at least come prepared for something. I walked into the room expecting it to be empty, but instead Brittany was seated next to Quinn, while Kurt and Mike were talking quietly in the back.

"Santana, come over here." Brittany said waving me over with a worried expression on her face. I obliged and sat in between the two blondes.

"We've been worried about you." Quinn said keeping her voice low. "Have you been staying with the dwarf? Come on tell me you're not." I rolled my eyes and smiled at Quinn.

"She's really not as bad as you think." I told Quinn sternly. I looked up to see Rachel walking in with a huge grin on her face and her books in her arms. I patted the seat next to Brittany and she gladly took it.

"Hello Quinn, Brittany…hi Santana." She gave me a small wave before turning her attention to the front of the room. She still didn't seem comfortable around me and other people who were _popular_. I don't know if she was expecting me to ignore her just to keep my reputation or something but that was just not happening. I considered Rachel a friend, and friends had to stick together.

"Hey Rach, remember how we were talking about singing a song together?" Rachel perked up as soon as I said 'singing'. "I have an idea…but you'll just have to follow my lead." I knew she wasn't too keen on following anyone's lead, especially when it came to performing, but she seemed to be a little more open to this idea than I thought.

"Okay." She said nodding and smiling.

"Okay?" I replied just to make sure I'd heard her right.

"Yes okay." She reached over Brittany and squeezed my thigh which let me now she was ready whenever I was.

"So class I'd like to-." Mr. Shuester was late as usual so I assumed he wouldn't mind if we jumped right into it. I mean it's not like he had anything more important to say. He was just going to walk around flaunting his curls, vest and stupid butt chin. Oh please I've had enough of seeing that.

"Cut it Shuester, Rachel and I wanna sing." I hopped up out of my chair with Rachel in hand and I cued the band to get started. "You ready?" I asked her just as we were about to get cued in.

"Always."

_I get too hungry for dinner at eight_. I started singing and Rachel followed me up with a cute little _I'm starving_

I grabbed Rachel's hand and we danced around while singing the song merrily.

_I like the theater but never come late  
>I never bother with people i hate<br>That's why the lady is a tramp  
><em>

I noticed that everyone was clapping along as we weaved in and out of harmonies, sometimes being serious about the lyrics, other times being playful and cute. Rachel was as loose as I've ever seen her singing anything.

_I like the crap games with barons and earls__  
><em>_Won't go to Harlem in ermine and pearls__  
><em>_Won't dish the dirt with the rest of the girls__  
><em>_That's why the lady is a tramp__  
><em>

_I like that cool(cool) fresh(fresh) wind in my hair__  
><em>_Life without care__  
><em>_I'm broke, it's ok!__  
><em>

_Hate California__  
><em>_It's cold and it's damp__  
><em>_That's why the lady is a tramp(she's a tramp!)_

We couldn't control our giggles as the song came to an end, and at this time everyone was joining in on the cheer and applause. I held up Rachel's hand, indicating that it was her voice that really made it special. I wrapped my arm around Rachel's shoulder and we fell back in place to our original seats. Now Brittany was seated next to Quinn and I was next to Rachel. "That was magical." Rachel whispered in my ear. "I've never felt so liberated. Your voice is so beautiful."

"Rachel stop complimenting me…you're amazing, you'll be a star one day, just you wait."

**The song is "The Lady is a Tramp" by Tony Bennett **


	10. Chapter 10

**OTHangels: **thanks for the review I look forward to hearing more from you.

**Princesskarlita:** Thanks

**lily loveless:** thank you for continuing to review, I hope this chapter satisfies your cute little Pezberry moments needs.

Rachel's POV

It was like I was dreaming. Santana Lopez had sung a duet with me, without a threat or anything. She did it willingly and she enjoyed it. Now we were sitting side by side in the Spanish room waiting for Mr. Shuester to stop talking. "So split up and work on your conversation skills, I don't want to hear any English." He said just before he exited the room to go have a conversation with Sue.

"Did you enjoy singing the solo with me?" Santana asked.

"En español por favor." I responded with a wicked smirk on my face.

"¿Te ha gustado cantar el solo conmigo?" Santana asked in perfect Spanish. I smiled at how beautifully she could pronounce every word. With ease and poise, without even skipping a beat.

"Do you speak Spanish with your family?" I asked.

"Only with my brother…" She said looking at me with inquisitive eyes. "I thought we were supposed to only be speaking Spanish." She whispered.

"I got tired of that." I said with a smile. "So we've only got an hour until the weekend. What do you want to do?"

"Can we just stay in, maybe we can watch a movie." She suggested with a small shrug.

"Hey Santana, party at my place tonight." Puck yelled from across the room.

"I'll pass; I'm just gonna chill with Rachel tonight." This was just too good to be true. Sure we may sort of live together now, but it didn't mean she had to be this kind to me. Watching her dismiss Puck and return her full attention to me made my cheeks darken to a light tint of pink.

"You can go if you want." Santana shook her head no and wrapped her arm around my shoulder. "Really, I swear it would be okay if you went with Puck, I could stay home and practice some vocals or-."

"Why can't I spend time at your house? Am I bothering you by being there?" She asked with a quizzical expression.

"What? No, of course not, I love having you there. It's just that I don't want to kill your reputation. I'll bring you down a lot if people knew that we were friends." I told her honestly.

"Let me tell you something Rachel." She paused for dramatic effect. "I don't give a shit about what people think, not unless I care about them. That means you; Brittany and Quinn are the only people I'll protect, that's it."

"Why are you putting me in the same group with Quinn and Brittany?" I asked sheepishly. "They're the popular pretty girls-."

"You're prettier than them." I tried not to smile so brightly but I couldn't help it. Anytime Santana complimented me it still came as a shock. I looked into her eyes trying to see something deeper behind her tough exterior, but I couldn't.

"Gosh Santana, who knew you could be such a sweetheart?"

"So which movie is it gonna be? _The Wizard of Oz_ or _Funny Girl_." Santana just rolled her eyes, knowing that I was overly excited and that they were both musicals. Santana was propped up leaning against the headboard of my bed, and watching me shift my weight from foot to foot in anticipation for her answer. "All I'm asking is are you in a Barbra mood or a Judy mood?" I clarified.

"Judy Garland it is, I can't help it, I have a soft spot of _The Wizard of Oz_." Santana said. I popped in the DVD and turned off the lights before I hopped on my bed and sat next to Santana. We began watching the movie in silence, and that worked out just fine until my hand grazed Santana's arm. She was so warm; it was like she was radiating heat. "Jeez do you bathe in fire or something?" I asked her in muttered tone.

"What does that mean? Is my skin hot or something?" She whispered taking her eyes off the screen for a second and looking at me.

"Burning actually." I responded. "I'm actually sort of cold…" I didn't know if I should finish my though. How strange would it be if I asked her to cuddle up closer to me? She would probably laugh and tell me to get a blanket.

"Aw little Rachy is cold." I should have resented the nickname, but I actually found it to be sort of cute. And when Santana scooted over close to me and wrapped her arm around me to pull me into her body my heart nearly melted. "Are you warm now?" Santana said brushing my hair out of my face.

"Yeah you're nice and cozy." I said giggling a little.

"What's so funny?" She questioned.

"It's just…well I really like hanging out with you." I said continuing to grin.

"Don't get all sentimental on me Rachel…and well…I like hanging out with you too."

Santana's POV

I was waiting for Rachel to finish showering when I remembered that I'd left my phone on the sink. I should check on Brittany and make sure she's not doing anything crazy at Puck party. I stood up and walked to the bathroom door not bothering to knock or pause because the water for the shower was still running. In the next two seconds I learn two things. One, Rachel leaves the shower on when she get's out, and two, Rachel has a smoking hot body.

I jumped back and closed the door knowing that Rachel didn't see or hear me enter. I rushed back over to the bed and sat down awkwardly. There was no way in hell anything can be normal between us from this point on. I had just seen Rachel nude, and there was no reversing that. Her abs were something amazing though, that must be from when she works out in the mornings. And don't get me started on those sexy legs of her. You'd think that because she is so short her legs would be too, but they are far from it. Jesus she was so much hotter than I ever noticed.

Shit, here she comes. God why does her hair have to be wet? Why is she wearing those stupid short shorts to bed? Why does she look so cute right now? "Are you going to shower now or in the morning?" She asked.

"Morning." I responded getting under the covers and closing my eyes.

"Are you going to sleep already?" Rachel asked as she turn off the lights, and slid in under the covers next to me. She put one arm around my stomach and the other under so she could link them together right at my bellybutton. We'd grown use to cuddling like this, it was actually very comfortable. I'm happy it wasn't the other way around because after what I saw today, there would be no way to control where my hands roamed. "I wish I could stay like this forever, you're so cuddly Santana." Rachel said in her sleepy voice.

I wrapped my hand over hers and squeezed gently. "You're the best cuddle buddy a girl could ask for." I pulled her hand to my lips and kissed it before I fell into a deep sleep. All I could dream about that night was Rachel, and that sexy body of hers.


	11. Chapter 11

**OTHangels:** They are pretty adorable together, just wait until you read this chapter

**lily loveless:** this chapter has plenty of sexy moments, so I hope you enjoy it.

Rachel's POV

I woke up to the sound of clanking plates and the smell of pancakes coming from downstairs. At first I wondered how long I had been sleeping because my father's would usually be cooking at this time, but when I flipped over in the bed Santana wasn't there. I jumped up, brushed my teeth washed my face and rushed downstairs.

The kitchen was sparkling clean, and Santana was facing the opposite direction flipping pancakes with her headphones in her ears. I leaned against the threshold of the door and saw that there were chocolate covered strawberries placed in the center of the table. God they looked delicious, but not as good as Santana looked standing there, waving her hips to the beat of some song.

"_Pour some sugar on me ooh in the name of love pour some sugar on me c'mon fire me up pour your sugar on me oh I can't get enough._" I smiled to myself, but then realized that Santana's song choice was beyond sexual. I walked over to the table and picked up a strawberry. I stood behind Santana, watching her hips sway for a second before I wrapped one arm around her waist and using my other arm to hold up a strawberry to her mouth. She stopped dancing but look over her shoulder at me and smiled. She turned off the pancakes and put them in a plate. I pulled one of her headphones out.

"Come on take a bite." I urged her. I watched her lips closely as she did, and licked my lips instinctively when a small trail of juice from the berry went down her chin. I used my thumb to clean up the trail of juice and licked it off my thumb. "You didn't have to make me breakfast." I told her.

"I wanted to." She said grabbing the plate of pancakes and leading me to the table. "I hope you like them, there's blueberries in some and chocolate in others." I smiled and we dug into the food. It was so yummy that we barley spoke through the whole meal. "Oh I almost forgot." Santana said standing up and opening the refrigerator. I watched as she pulled out some whipped cream in a can. She closed the refrigerator door and leaned back against it. "Come her." She said in her playfully flirtatious voice.

I stood up and skipped over to her, smiling as I did so. I looked at the can and saw that it was soy free vegan whipped cream and smiled even brighter. "Close your eyes." Santana said as she opened the can. "No peeking." She said. "Open your mouth." I did as I was told. Within seconds the yummy whipped cream was being sprayed into my mouth. Once she was done I tried to close my mouth gracefully but I could feel the cream falling down to my chin.

I don't know why I still had my eyes closed, but before I could open them I felt Santana's tongue licking the cream from my chin. Before I could pulled away Santana had her arms around my waist and me pressed up against the refrigerator. She kissed my lips softly and sucked on my bottom lip for just a second before pulling away.

We stood there staring at each other for more than a few moments. Santana pulled her hands back and ran her fingers through her hair. "Sorry." She mumbled.

"It's…okay." I said still wide-eyed.

"That whipped cream tastes really good." Santana licking her lips and smirking a little to herself.

Santana's POV

I am so stupid. I can't believe I kissed her! Now things were going to be more than awkward. Now Rachel was going to make me sleep on the floor afraid that I'd jump her bones in the middle of the night. I'd like to mostly blame this on hormones, but I knew that I liked Rachel as way more than a friend. I was crushing hard on her and I couldn't help but think about her all the time.

I pulled out my duffle bag from under Rachel bed and began throwing my clothes in. I had to be out of here before she comes upstairs. I zipped up my hoodie, threw on a beanie and shoes and turned to leave. Dammit. Rachel was standing at the door holding a plate of cookies and she looks so scarred when she saw me. She looked like she was about to cry. "Santana?" She said in a quiet fearful voice. "What are you doing? Why do you have you stuff packed? Santana, you aren't leaving are you?" She asked in the innocent voice of hers.

"Rachel, I kissed you…I have to go." I tried to walk past her but she stopped me with her free arm. I pulled the duffle bag over my head and placed the cookies down on her desk. She pushed me back towards her bed and when the back of my knees hit her bed I fell to the coziness on my back.

"You don't have to go anywhere." She told me. She straddled my hips aggressively and the heat of her body felt so good against me.

"Rach what are you-."

"Shh…" Rachel said pressing her finger to my lips. She leaned down close to me keeping her gaze darkened and low. "Kiss me again." She said.

"I can't…I don't want to scare you off-." I didn't get to finish because before I knew it Rachel's lips were pressed to mine. I tried to stop her but she pulled me in closer and grazed her tongue across my bottom lip. I granted her access and let her tongue explore my mouth. I had my hands on her hips, but I moved them down lower realizing that I was groping Rachel Berry's ass and it was fantastic. When I squeezed tighter, Rachel moaned into my mouth and I knew I wanted her bad now.

"Shit Rach." I breathed out before I flipped her over so I was now on top of the smaller girl.

"I knew you liked to be in control." Rachel said and I couldn't help but smile into the kiss. I brushed Rachel's hair back and began kissing and nipping at her neck. Rachel tasted amazing, and I couldn't bring myself to stop, but I had to. "Don't stop…" Rachel said pecking my lips, but I pulled away.

I sat up on the bed with my feet hanging over the edge and Rachel did the same after awhile. "Has anyone ever told you how sexy you are?" I asked her.

"No." Rachel said intertwining her hands.

"Well you are." I told her. We sat in silence for awhile and I didn't mind. I liked holding Rachel's hand, I liked kissing her, and I liked watching musicals with her.

"Cookie?" She offered and all I could do is nod and giggle along with her.

**The song that Santana is singing while cooking breakfast is "Pour Some Sugar on Me" by Def Leppard .**

**Read and Review **


	12. Chapter 12

**lily loveless: **You're welcome, I hope you enjoy the next chapter as the one before.

**anonymous reviewer: **I hope you continue reading, the abuse will come into play this chapter, I had to develop the pezberry relationship first. Thank you so much for the review.

**Abi:** Thank you for the review, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**This chapter has a bit of angst, that's going to be explained in this chapter and the upcoming ones. Enjoy.**

Rachel's POV

Santana was so carefree now it was adorable. She walked into school with me and not once did she glare at anyone. The other students were shocked, but I wasn't. I don't know if I caused her to make this change in her attitude, but something deep inside me hoped I did. "What are you thinking about?" Santana asked me as she was leaning up against the locker next to mine. She had this small smirk on her face and I knew she was in a playful mood.

"I'm not thinking about anything." I lied as I grabbed my chemistry book.

"Liar, you always make this certain bewildered face when you're thinking." Did she really notice that much about me? She had been studying my gaze closely and all I could do was smile because I was caught.

"I'm just happy, that you're happy." I told her. She smiled again and looked just over my shoulder and a frown appeared on her face. Her attitude completely changed, and her shoulders were tense. "Santana what are you-." I didn't get a chance to finish my thought because before I knew it she was running past me and at a familiar figure.

I recognized the boy; it was Santana's brother, the one I had spoken to a few weeks ago. Santana grabbed his shirt and pulled him into an empty room. I followed behind them making sure not to be seen, but making sure I could see and hear them from outside of the door.

"…why the hell are you here?" She questioned in an angry tone. "You can't just show up like this." I didn't understand what the big deal was. So her brother had showed up to visit her at school, what was wrong with that.

"I'm here for a reason _hermanita_." He said. They starred at each other for what seemed like forever. Somehow they knew what the other was thinking without even speaking a word. Santana shook her head 'no' and then slammed her fist against the chalkboard.

"No, he wouldn't…I know he wouldn't." She began pacing and it was clear that her brother was trying to calm her down. He reached for her shoulder but she pushed his hand away.

"What? Do you think I'd lie about this? This is the only reason I came, because you had to know. Don't think I'd fuck around about this, I never would." He looked so serious and I knew that I was going far beyond my boundaries.

"Where is he?" Santana asked as she began biting her fingernails.

"Where do you think? No one gets an out there, not even him. He's fine, I talk to him and he said he was okay." Santana lost it at this point, she had enough now. She grabbed him from around his shirt collar and pulled him in close.

"How stupid can you be? You don't get it! He's not fine, and he never will be. I can't believe you just left him there. _Si le pasa algo te mato_." Santana said between clenched teeth. She pushed him back and he nearly toppled over two desk. She reached in her pocket to make sure she had her keys and then she pointed her finger at him. "Use a payphone and call the house…make sure he's out."

"What are you gonna do? You can't go there, you wanna play superhero or you wanna live?" He asked crossing his arms over his chest.

"Fuck you." She mumbled. "Since you're not gonna step up and be a man, I'll do it for you."

"You're gonna get hurt." He told her as she was making a solid attempt at calming down.

"I always do don't I."

Santana's POV

The next time I see my older brother, Alejandro, I'm probably going to kill him. What Ale doesn't understand is that he's the odd one out just as much as I am. He should've stood up, he could've stopped it from happening, but he wanted to show my father that he was good enough, just like I try to do. But we won't be good enough, we can never be good enough for him.

Before I darted from school, I told Rachel that she should call her dads to pick her up today because I might not be able to take her. She looked confused and worried, and she tried to ask questions, she reached out for my hand but I pulled away. I wasn't going to drag Rachel down with me, she deserved to be on top.

I drove my car to my street, and scoped out the place. I had to make sure my father wasn't home. I knew Ale was a no good asshole sometimes, but when it came to helping me out with my father he always had my back. My father's car was gone and I knew I'd be in the clear. I parked my car on the curb just in case I had to make a quick getaway and I ran up to my front door.

I rang the doorbell, knowing that my father had changed the locks since he kicked me out. I hadn't expected the door to be opened so quickly, and I also didn't expect my little brother to be standing there looking like the little angel that he was even after what he went through.

"Tana!" He squealed out throwing open the screen door and jumping up in my arms. I wanted to cry, I wanted to cry so badly, but I had to stay strong for him. He was only four years old and he needed me there. But when my father kicked me out, I had no choice but to leave him, I though Ale would protect him, but he didn't. "Why did you run away?" That's what my father would tell him when he kicked me out, or when he put me in the hospital. He'd say that I'd run away.

"I wanted to go see Brittany." I lied. He nodded and pulled me inside behind him.

"Now we can go upstairs and play!" He said trying to pull me upstairs. "Tana, come on." He said. I picked him up and ran upstairs to his room. I grabbed one of his traveling bags and unzipped it. "Are we going on a trip? Are you coming with me?" He asked as I was tossing clothes in the bag.

"Hey Chichi, grab your coat and shoes." I told him and he did as I said without any questions. His real name is Che, like the revolutionary, my father named him that because he wanted him to be great. It's stupid to expect that from someone so fragile and small like him. "What'd you eat today?" I asked him once I had packed enough clothes and toys into the bag.

"Pbb&j!" He exclaimed. That was his favorite sandwich. Peanut butter, bananas and jelly. I smiled at him and zipped up his coat as we walked downstairs.

"Good, are you hungry now?" I asked him. He shook his head no. I opened the front door and Che and I walked towards my car. He held my hand tight even as I put his bag in the trunk. I buckled Che up and told him to wait in the car for a second. I came back only three minutes later with his booster seat and a hat for him.

"Tana, you look sad." Che said as I was positioning him in his booster seat. "I want you to be happy." He said poking me in the stomach.

"I love you Chichi." I told him putting on a short masquerade of happiness as I kissed his forehead. "Now let's go." I said closing the backseat door and getting into the driver's seat.

"If we're going on a trip, is Papa gonna come too." Sometimes I wished that Che wasn't so innocent. I wanted to tell him that our father was the biggest bastard on the planet but I couldn't. I still let him think that our father was a saint, even when I know he's not.

"I'll call him later." I lied as I pulled into the McDonald's drive thru. I got Che chicken nuggets and fries and an ice cream sundae. I let him eat the ice cream in the car and told him to wait on eating the food.

I didn't know what I was going to do. I couldn't have Che stay with the Berry's, it would be too much work for them and it'd cost too much money. But still I was parked in front of their house not sure if I could really handle this all now. "Why are we waiting out here?" Che asked innocently from the backseat.

"You can eat your food; we're just waiting for the nice people that live here to return home. When they come back I'm going to have a nice conversation with a girl who lives here." I tried explaining to him.

"Who is she?" He asked after taking a handful of fries and trying to stuff them in his mouth.

"Her name is Rachel, and she is very nice." I said afraid that if I started talking about her too much then I wouldn't be able to stop.

"I can't wait to see Rachel." He said offering me a fry. I rejected his offer and leaned back in my seat waiting for Rachel to come home.

**read and review please **


	13. Chapter 13

**HpvdgleelOver:** thank you, I love Chichi as well

**OTHangels: **Here's an update with some more with Che

**Princesakarlita411:** Yeah this is pretty cute

**DaPhoenix:** thanks for the review. It's very intense but this will be a little less angsty, but still continue on with the story.

**Here's the next chapter I hope you enjoy. The next chapter will have some more Pezberry, but for right now it's all about Che**

Rachel's POV

Santana left school without even explaining to me what was going on. She just told me that I would need to have my father take me home because she didn't know when she would be back. I didn't understand what went on with her brother, and I didn't understand the anger burning up in Santana in those moments.

I didn't wait for school to be over, I just couldn't. I pretended that I had to leave earlier for a doctor's appointment and I found Puck hiding in the choir room trying to skip math. "Puck, I need a ride."

"On the Puck train? Can do Berry." I scolded myself for awful choice of words to say to a pervert and then scolded Puck for being such a pervert.

"No, I need a lift back to my house. I saw Santana and her brother-." Puck held up his hands to cut me off.

"No way, Santana's at quits with her family. Why would she be with Alejandro?" Puck questioned.

"But I saw them talking…well yelling at one another. I was deeply concerned for her wellbeing, but she just did that thing where she dismisses me and ran off. I tried calling her, but then I remembered she left her phone at my house. I know she'll return there, so if you would please take me home. I'll pay you-." Puck cut me off again.

"You don't have to pay me; if this is about helping Santana then I'll do it. She's had enough troubles." Puck said urging me to follow him out to his car. Why is it that everyone seems to know about Santana, except me?

"Does she talk to you about all that?" I said after we had been driving for awhile.

"No, she would never talk to me about it. Her brother would drag her to my house when we were younger and make her stay with me sometimes. I guess that's when stuff got bad…I dunno." Puck said shrugging a little bit.

"What does it take for her to open up?" It was less of a question for him, but he still looked over at me. I'd never seen the mohawked boy look so solemn, and it made me turn away and look out the window.

"I don't know what you want from her." Puck said as we turned onto my street. I spotted Santana's car in front of my house and I tried to hold back the smile on my face. "There she is…" Puck said a little surprised.

Puck pulled in behind Santana's car and she got out seconds later. She looked confused and curious as to why Puck was here with me. Puck and I got out of the car and met Santana halfway. "What are you doing here?" I don't know if she was asking me or Puck but I decided that I would answer.

Santana had changed from what she was wearing at school. She was wearing a sweatshirt and beat up jeans with wore down sneakers. She looked tired and I just wanted to give her a huge hug. "You left school out of the blue…and you didn't tell me where you were going, I got worried." I explained to her.

"You don't have to worry about me." Santana said crossing her arms over her chest.

"Tana I wanna play now!" I looked to the other side of the car just to see a small boy jump out. He had dark brown hair and a charming smile as he ran over to wrap his arms around Santana's legs. When he looked up at me I saw those dark pupils of his and I immediately knew he was Santana's relative.

"Che, _vas en el coche_." Santana said to him quietly. He didn't budge and she rubbed his head before looking right into my eyes.

Puck, sensing the tension walked over and slipped his hand in the young boy's. "Come on Che, I'll play with you." Puck picked him up with ease and carried him over to the front yard where they began running around.

"Santana what's going on?" I asked her walking closer to her. "Is that little boy your brother?" She looked conflicted. I know that she wants to speak to me, to spill her guts right now, but she can't…or won't.

"Look I promise to explain this to you, but right now…well right now I've got to do something about Che." Santana said. "I've got an aunt who lives in the south side of Lima, I'm gonna take Che there to stay until things cool down." She explained in a calculated tone.

"Cool down? Is this what you and your brother were talking about?" I questioned.

"Chichi, _ven conmigo._" Santana said waving her little brother over. It was exhilarating to see how open and warm she was with him. She held his hand freely and openly and even let him tug on her pants.

"¿_Quien es_?" Che asked looking at me with his eyes twice the size they were before.

"This is Rachel." She told him bending down to his level. "Remember how I told you that she is nice, well I should've told you how pretty she is." Santana said making me blush. I refused to look over at Puck who I'm sure was probably rolling his eyes like crazy right now. "Be a good little boy and shake her hand."

I shook his tiny little hand and smiled. He was the cutest child I had ever seen. It was so easy for me to accept that he was related to Santana because of how cute he was. "She has pretty eyes." He said.

"Wow little man's got game." Puck said giving Che a high five.

"Alright let's go, Rach you don't have to come…uh neither do you Puck. I can handle this myself." Santana said. She ordered Che into her car and Puck and I glanced at each other before filing into Santana's car. She tried to protest but we got her to start driving without actually throwing us out.

I was seated next to Che, and Puck was sitting up front. "So how old are you little man?" I asked.

"I'm four." He said with a grin on his face.

"Wow, you're very mature for your age. And how old is Santana?" I asked just to make conversation.

"She's really old…she's…she's 17, but she never gets a birthday party like me and Ale. Papa says that girl's like her don't need a party." I checked up front to see Santana's response. She tensed up but didn't say anything. I was starting to think that there was so much more to this story then I would ever know.

"Well maybe we can throw her a party, huh?" I offered.

"Yay! That would be super duper fun, we could have cake and ice cream!" Che exclaimed. "I like you Rachel, I really like you!"

Santana's POV

I was making mistakes left and right. The whole point of this was to keep Rachel out of this. I wanted to tell her that I was leaving, but I couldn't and I wasn't. If Aunt Garcia took Che in then I could stay with the Berry's still and everything could be alright for a little while.

It didn't take much convincing for Aunt Garcia to agree to take Che for a few days. I gave his travel bag to my cousin Marco, and gave Che a huge hug. "I love you, you know that right?" I asked him.

"Why are you leaving me Tana?" He asked as the tears began welling up in his eyes.

"I'm not leaving you silly goose. I'm with you always, don't you know that." He nodded and hugged me tighter. I looked back at Puck and Rachel who were waiting patiently in the car. "Tell me what you think of Rachel."

"I think she's super nice, and she smiles really big. She talks a lot." I laughed at my little brother's description of the girl I liked. "Are you gonna visit me?" He asked.

"Of course I will." I told him kissing his cheek and forehead before I stood up from my kneeling position. "Now, you go inside, and remember that if you get scared to close your eyes and count to ten and that's when-."

"The dreams begin." He finished for me.

"Exactly, _hasta otro dia hermano pequeño_." I hugged him tightly again and watched him as he walked inside and closed the door behind him. I stood on the porch for a second, trying to breathe before I went back to the car.

"You think you should talk to him about what happened?" Puck asked after we had been driving for about fifteen minutes.

"Yeah just not today…he's been through enough." I replied.

"You're an amazing person, protecting your little brother like that." Rachel said from the backseat.

"If you had a brother you'd do the same thing." I assured her. "I think my brother has a crush on you Rachel." I gave her a few little giggles.

"Are you…ahem…jealous?" Rachel asked. I could practically hear the smug smile on her voice, which only made me smirk.

"…hard not to be." I responded.


	14. Chapter 14

Thank you **Princesakarlita, lily loveless, and DaPhoenix **for your reviews. I always appreciate them, and they always help me know where I'm going with this story.

**Okay this chapter is a little longer than they usually are, but that's because I got completely carried away. I'm officially addicted to writing this, that is the pure and honest truth. Anyway enjoy.**

Rachel's POV

I made Santana dinner tonight because my dads' flight was delayed again. They said they'd be back tomorrow for sure, but I don't know, Santana was always so closed up when they were around. I just had a salad, but I couldn't help but watch her. She didn't even notice me starring at her though, she was busy in her own head. She was thinking, going through all the possibilities, she was hurt.

"It's better if you talk out loud about it." I tried saying with a consoling tone. She practically jumped up from her chair and tossed her plate in the sink. She washed it quickly, before she was about to head upstairs. "You're just going to leave me down here to eat _alone_." Santana stopped just at the threshold of the door.

"Don't make this about you Rachel." She said in a dark voice. I knew I was near tears, and I'd been feeling like my tear ducts were going to burst all day. Somehow I end up keeping it together, somehow.

"I wasn't trying to…I just want you to be okay." She shook her head and clenched her fist as she returned to her seat across from me.

"Do you know what Ale and I were talking about?" She asked after a long silence.

"I think-…I think I know why." I lowered my gaze to the table not wanting to look at her right now.

"He hit Che, Rachel. He hit him…he's never done that before. It was always just me, only me. He's dead, he's fucking dead." I could feel her blood pressure rising. I knew she was going to explode at any moment. I didn't know how to calm her down. Part of me didn't want to calm her down. She was telling me that her father had hit her beautiful little brother, her father deserved to be thrown in jail. It wasn't right, it just wasn't.

"You can't kill him." I told her. I would've gone into the different punishments for capital offenses, but I thought now was a bad time. "The most important thing is that Che is safe…that's the only thing that matters."

"You're right, you're so right." Santana said giving me her first genuine smile of the day. Santana waited and watched me as I finished my salad, and as we were walking up the steps Santana stopped me. "You know Rachel, I wasn't kidding about being a little jealous."

"Oh please, do you think you're little four year old brother has a chance?" I said laughing.

"He's got game, it runs in the family." Santana said seriously. When we walked into my room, Santana was already turning on my stero system and putting in a hip hop CD. I didn't know what was happening, and why she had chosen this CD in particular. "So remember when we were at that party at Puck's house?"

"How could I forget?" Now I was starting to see where this was going. Santana wanted to dance with me. Santana walked over and dimmed the lights, so now it was pretty dark in the room and the bass was gently vibrating the floor. I liked the Santana wasn't waiting for my permission when she stood behind me and slowly began moving our hips side to side in unison.

She slipped her fingers under my shirt and began massaging my stomach. I had Goosebumps under her touch, which only made me lean into her more. "Do you like this?" Santana said in a low sultry voice.

I knew I wasn't a very talented dancer, but I knew how to grind into someone. The thing was, there was something about Santana that just makes things ten times hotter. I don't know if it's the way she's breathing on my neck or the way she's slowly lifting my skirt. She brushed my hair back behind my ear and nuzzled up closer to my neck.

"Don't stop." I was trying to talk but it came out so low it was like a moan. Her teeth grazed my ear and then she nibbled down on my neck.

"Turn around." It wasn't a statement, it wasn't even a command, because before I knew it she was turning me around and wrapping her arms around my neck. We were moving back and forth, in an increasingly sexual way and all I wanted was to kiss her. "…shit." For a second I though something was wrong, but then I realized that I could feel the heat in between Santana's legs and I must have accidently moved my leg in between hers.

"Jesus Santana." I said when she reached one of her hands down to my lower back. She pinched my ass and I squealed at her touch. She pulled back and looked into my eyes. She pressed our lips together hard with no indecision. Our tongues were fighting for dominance and she won easily. She grabbed the front of my shirt and guided us backwards towards the bed.

She pulled me on top of her so that I was straddling her hips and we never broke the kiss. She began with her hands around my back, but it didn't take long for them to return to my butt. I smiled into the kiss because I never knew Santana had a thing for my ass.

"Take this off." Santana said motioning for me to lift my shirt over my head. She was tugging at my shirt for awhile before she finally stopped. "You can trust me." She said in between kisses. "I'll never push you too far." She began pecking my neck and nibbling on my earlobe.

"We have to stop." I told her finally pulling away. I knew we were just making out, but Santana almost took my shirt off, which would've lead to something else and so on. I wasn't ready for…_sex_. It was scary just thinking about it, and I know if I kept letting Santana touch me, I'd never be able to stop. "You were right about one thing." I said making a very weak attempt at catching my breath, as I was still straddling Santana's hips. She still had lust in her eyes and her hair was slightly matted from sweating.

"And what is that?" Santana asked kissing my fingers one by one.

"You Lopez's sure have game."

Santana's POV

"I love you more!" I said into the phone. I didn't get a chance to visit my brother last night, so I was haled up in the janitor's closet talking to him before I went to Glee practice. He was really happy, I could sense it, but I still hadn't talked to him about how my father had hit him. I guess I could talk to Ale about it, but it was important to let my brother speak about everything. I didn't want him to have to hide like me. "So have you been eating well?"

"Yes Auntie Garcia cooks big waffles every day!" Che exclaimed. "She cooks really good…when you come see me again will you stay for dinner?"

"Of course I will, and I'll bring you your PSP so you can play your favorite games." I had no idea how I could swing that. I mean I couldn't try that thing again with sneaking into my father's house, he probably had an alarm system right now, but I had to make Che happy.

"Can you bring Rachel?" He asked curiously. I wonder how long it'll take for my father to realize that I was the one who took Che to stay with Auntie Garcia. Ale was probably trying to save my ass by explaining that it was his idea to let Che stay there for a bit. It wasn't like my father cared, he just hated me, not Ale or Che.

"Whoa little man, you tryin to get with my girl?" _My girl_? It was the first time I'd said it out loud. I have no idea why I said it though. Sure Rach and I have gotten really close, and we've made out a bit, but she wasn't my girl. Nothing had been made official, and Rachel was defiantly the kind of girl that would need to be asked out properly. I didn't know what I wanted right now, but I knew I liked her. Why couldn't that just be enough?

"Girls have cooties." I wanted to tell him that Rachel wasn't a girl, she was a woman, but I shut my mouth. Che wouldn't understand any of that no matter how many times I tried to explain it.

"Well I've got to go to practice, call me later okay?" He promised before I made loud kissing noises over the phone before he hung up.

I had to run full speed to Glee just to make it in time, and I wasn't surprised when Mr. Shuester wasn't even there to greet us. I spotted Rachel sitting in the most well mannered fashion as usual. I took a seat between her and Brittany before I shoved my phone in my pocket.

"Where were you S?" Quinn asked with an annoyingly curious gaze.

"Talking to Chichi." I told her and she nodded like she understood. Sometimes I wish I hadn't opened up to her about the abuse. I didn't need a pity party, especially from her.

"Oh you should call him Chia! Like a chia pet." Brittany put in. Rachel and Quinn laughed, but I just smiled at Brittany's comment. She was always the one to lighten the mood, which is why I needed her in my life.

"I don't think-." We all looked up to see Mr. Shuester bursting into the room with sheet music and lyrics in his hands.

"So guys, I was sitting at home and all of a sudden this song came on the radio. I couldn't believe that we've never sung this before. It's loads of fun, so let's get to it." He handed out the papers to each one of us and I looked down at the title. A smile immediately graced Rachel's face when she saw what the song was. I looked down and rolled my eyes along with every other boy in the room except Kurt.

"Jesus…" I muttered as Brittany grabbed my hand jumping up and down.

Quinn smiled at me before she started singing.

_I come home in the morning light__  
><em>_My mother says when you gonna live your life right__  
><em>Rachel cut in and began singing. As everyone, including the boys began dancing around the room in a line.

_Oh mother dear we're not the fortunate ones  
>And girls they want to have fun<br>Oh girls just want to have fun  
><em>

Brittany twirls before she starts singing the next verse._  
><em>_The phone rings in the middle of the night__  
><em>I broke in so that we sang the next line together. The song was stupid, but somehow singing these lines with Brittany made me think a little too much.

_My father yells what you gonna do with your life  
><strong>Oh daddy dear you know you're still number one<strong>  
>But girls they want to have fun<br>Oh girls just want to have  
><em>

Kurt and Mercedes took the leads in the chorus and now Mike had linked arms with me. He was literally dancing circles around me which was more entertaining than it was embarrassing._  
><em>_That's all they really want__  
><em>_Some fun__  
><em>_When the working day is done__  
><em>_Girls - they want to have fun__  
><em>_Oh girls just want to have fun__  
><em>

Rachel stood in the middle of the group while we were trying to get a synchronized line going and she sang the next verse right to me. I was frozen. How could she take such a cheesy and fun song and make it so amazing?_  
><em>_Some boys take a __**beautiful girl**__**  
><strong>__And hide her away from the rest of the world__  
><em>_I want to be the one to walk in the sun__  
><em>_Oh girls they want to have fun__  
><em>_Oh girls just want to have__  
><em>

Everyone joined in at the end, even the guys. Maybe the song got an octave lower, but at least we knew we were having fun. This is what Glee club was supposed to be about. Sure we had competitions, but that didn't matter, all that matter was that we should be happy here. We should be safe here._  
><em>_That's all they really want__  
><em>_Some fun__  
><em>_When the working day is done__  
><em>_Girls - they want to have fun__  
><em>_Oh girls just want to have fun,__  
><em>_They want to have fun,__  
><em>_They want to have fun_

After the song finished up, I thought back to the lyrics I had sung with Brittany: _oh daddy dear you know you're still number one_. Why did I sing that? Now all I could think about was Che and how he'd been hurt by my dad. I was struggling to understand exactly what I was feeling when Rachel began playing with my hand softly. I hated my father. I loved Che. I liked Rachel. Shit, these emotions were getting the best of me.

"San are you okay?" Brittany said as I slowly stood up. I was trying to run. That's what I always did when I couldn't handle something. But dammit I couldn't run right now. I began wobbling, everything was getting hazy. Run Santana! Run you idiot! I took a step and everything went black. I couldn't move. Why couldn't I run?

**Read and Review **


	15. Chapter 15

**OTHangels:**You said to update soon so here is the update.

**lily loveless:**__Thank you as always for been a constant reviewer. In this chapter there's going to be a little more drama.

**VG: **Of course I had to have another chapter, I'm super addicted to writing this.

**Abi:** The drama with Santana's family continues.

**Thank you everyone for the review, it really means a lot. I realized after awhile of watching Glee that I really like Quinn, so she's going to get some attention as well as Puck in this chapter. Enjoy. **

Rachel's POV

"Santana, wake up…come on…Santana." She slowly began moving under my touch. It took her awhile to blink her eyes open, but when she finally did open them she was starring straight up at the ceiling. I don't know how long she had been out. Probably ten minutes at the most. All the guys in the Glee club, excluding Kurt, carried her to the nurses office and were waiting outside. Quinn was seated on the other side of her and she was holding Santana's cheek with an expression of concern on her face.

I know that Santana and Quinn had their differences, but I never knew how much she cared about the Latina. It was a sight to see, Quinn Fabray, all torn up over Santana. "…fuck." Santana explained as she was trying to lift her body up.

"Santana lay back down, you shouldn't be moving around right now. The nurse said you need some rest-." I tried getting her to stay in place, but she swung her legs over the edge of the mat in the nurse's office. Santana looked like she was about to bolt, but Quinn reached out and grabbed her wrist.

"You can't go S, come on. Just relax." They exchanged glares for a few moments before Santana finally sat back down on the mat. It was clear that they were sharing a secret message. They both knew something that I clearly didn't. Now I had that feeling that I was an outsider again. I hated this feeling but I couldn't deny it, maybe I should wait outside. "You had one of those episodes again-." _Episodes_? What did she mean? Does this happen a lot to Santana? Why hasn't she told me about it?

"Don't call it that Quinn." Santana snapped.

"That's what it is; I remember this happening…shit it happened all the fucking time. It's scary when it happens, sometimes I would think you weren't going to wake up." Quinn was crying now. I don't know if she's lost some of her bite because she had Beth, but something about her now was softer more approachable. There was something about the way she cared for her friend, that made me wonder how I ever hated her.

"It's nothing." Santana said looking away from the blonde.

"It certainly seemed like something. I've put a call into my father, you know Leroy, and he said he'll take you to the doctor to make sure everything is okay." Santana glared right through me. I didn't know what I did. I was only trying to help her, but now she looked like she was mad at me.

"Why did you do that? Shit Rach." Santana was now standing, and by the rate she was pacing I thought she'd probably pass out again in no time. "You have to call him back and say I'm fine, I can't pay him back for a doctor's appointment, I don't have that kind of money."

"I'm no doctor but I'd say you're defiantly not _fine_, and secondly my father's don't need to be reimbursed for an appointment to check on your wellbeing. They care about you and so do I. Why can't you just let someone help you?" I asked the question louder than I had planned to and I immediately wished I could take it back. She looked so broken by the thought, and she starred blankly ahead.

"God I'm so stupid!" Santana shouted after a heartbreaking silence.

"What? You didn't do anything wrong." Quinn said.

"I gotta get outta here!" She reached for her jacket which was hanging close to the bed. I watched as she put it on with ease and reached down for her shoes. She began tying them, and if this situation wasn't so serious I'd probably say that she'd just set a record for the quickest tied shoes in history.

"Where are you going?" I asked her. I grabbed her wrist to see if she would come back and sit down like she did for Quinn. Instead she yanked her wrist out of my grasp and started towards the door. I'd never been more grateful for someone to barge in than I was now. Noah stood in the doorway halting Santana. She knew she was strong, but probably not strong enough to beat up Noah so she took a few steps backwards but still faced him.

"Puck I'm not in the mood." Santana said.

"I'm not gonna just let you go out there if you're sick. Sure I'm all for being reckless, but my badassness stops when the people I care about might get hurt." Puck crossed his arms over his chest. "I'll protect you-."

"Don't…just don't say that." Santana said fuming. "You know the school has to call him, and when he gets here do you think he's not gonna ask about Che? I've got the upper hand for once. I don't give a fuck about him killing me, but if he finds out I'm staying with Rachel…I can't let her get hurt." My mouth practically hit the floor. Santana was trying to protect me over herself?

I could see the wheels turning in Noah's mind. I understood why, it was hard to weigh Santana's medical safety against the safety of her brother. "Fine, come on." Noah grabbed Santana's arm and began taking her out of the room.

"Wait! Where are you going?" I asked.

"We gotta get out of here before my dad comes." Santana said in a rushed voice. Noah was trying to push her out of the room but she kept eye contact with me. "Stay at school. After school go and watch Brittany and Quinn practice, Quinn will take you all home." Santana said. "Quinn, take Britt and Rach to your house and stay there until I call." Quinn didn't look to happy, but she nodded.

"Are you going to be okay?" I asked her.

"Just don't worry." I hated how that sounded. She never answered my question. I had to know if she would be okay. I cared so much about her, and seeing her handle this…it was like she wasn't herself. She put on a façade that made her seem much older. Too old.

"You're worrying aren't you?" I almost forgot that Quinn was still there. I looked over at her waiting for the barrage of insults to come.

"Yes." I said looking down at my feet.

"So am I…" And then she started crying. I didn't know what to do. So I did nothing.

Santana's POV

"What triggered it this time?" Puck asked me while we were sitting down at McDonalds in Lima Heights. I looked at him with a scowl. Why did he have to bring that up? I liked the quiet, I didn't want to talk. But Puck had those stupid eyes. Sure he was a bad boy, but when he looked at you and he genuinely cared, it was hard to ignore.

"I don't know." I lied as I took a sip of my _Coke_.

"You know." Puck told me. "You always know. I remember this happening when you were at Brittany's birthday party. You wouldn't let them take you to the hospital. You ran." He didn't need to tell me _my _life story. I rolled my eyes and put my cup down.

"The song." I said honestly.

"The song? Really? Oh right because _Girls Just Wanna Have Fun_ is so damn emotional." Puck said sarcastically.

"Not the song you idiot…the lyrics." He still looked confused and I knew I had to explain further. "_Daddy dear you know you're still number one_." I shook my head knowing that I sounded ridiculous. I mean I passed out over an 80's pop song, I passed out because Cyndi Lauper had a dad who was number one. Well I knew it wasn't just the song. It was Rachel and Che, but mostly Rachel. It's easy to love Che, because I always have, but letting someone new in was tearing me apart. The reality was beginning to settle in, I liked her but that might be the thing that gets her hurt.

"Oh." Puck mumbled out. "You never told me where he hit you this time."

"Huh?" I said snapping back to reality.

"When your father kicked you out…he hit you didn't he? Well where? I don't see any bruises on your face." It seemed so strange talking about this. We were at a McDonalds in the ghetto of Lima, I had just passed out in Glee club and Puck was asking me where my father hit me.

I raised both my hands to show put the imprints on my wrist. "He must have gotten tired of chasing me, so he did what he's been doing for awhile…tie me to a chair." I looked outside in a small attempt to distance myself. "Rachel saw the bruises on my stomach awhile ago; I know she wants to ask…she's always curious about me."

"She cares." Puck said in a reassuring tone. "I don't know why but she really does." I shrugged indicating that I didn't know why Rachel cared so much either. "So you've been staying with Rachel?" he asked.

"Yeah…I should probably go to a shelter in about a week or so. Her dads are really good people, but paying them back is gonna be a bitch if I keep staying there." I explained to him.

"They're asking for money?" Puck asked raising an eyebrow.

"Of course not, but I can't stand owing people like that." I furrowed my eyebrows.

"You wanna go see Chichi?" Puck asked sensing my resentment.

"No, later maybe." I said.

"Can I ask you something?" He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and I could not dread his question more than I did now. I nodded anyway knowing that Puck was as persistent as Rachel was. "You and Quinn are super competitive, but now it just seems like she cares so much more about you. Why?"

"I'm off the Cheerios, now she'll never have to fight to be on top. She wins." I said.

"Aren't you tired of losing?" He questioned. Sometimes I wish I could just push him away. Puck and I had a friendship that was different from everyone's. It was a love hate thing and we both knew it. When we needed each other we'd be there, that's all that mattered with us.

"Fuck winning, it's not worth the fight."


	16. Chapter 16

**Thank you iGlee, lily loveless, Princesakarlita, and Abi. I am really thankful that people keep reviewing, it keeps me very motivated.**

**This chapter is less intense at the end, and Chichi shows up again, which is nice and lighthearted. There's got to be a little calm before the storm right?**

**Enjoy.**

Rachel's POV

I didn't really mind watching Cheerios practice. I mean Brittany and Quinn were obviously very talented, especially Brittany who moved with such grace. Sitting there on the bleachers also gave me time to think. Most of my thoughts revolved around Santana. I couldn't help it. I mean that _episode_ she had earlier really scared me.

She left with Puck, which only worried me more, but she told me she was trying to protect me. I wanted to tell her that I didn't need protection, I needed her. Where did she go? All her stuff was at my house, you couldn't just leave. She wouldn't do that if she cared about me, I know she wouldn't.

"Earth to Berry." I jumped up when I saw Quinn's hands waving in front of my face. I looked as saw that Quinn and Brittany were standing there out of uniform with their bags slung over their shoulders. "You ready to go?" Quinn asked holding her keys in her left hand and waiting patiently for me to answer.

"Um…yeah…sorry…yes." I said slinging my own backpack over my shoulder and following the girls over to Quinn's car. We were in a solemn mood except Brittany who seemed rather excited that I was there.

"Quinn we need a booster seat for Rachel!" Brittany said searching the car for one. If it wasn't Brittany who made the comment I would be offended, but Brittany actually seemed concerned for my safety.

"She'll be fine; she'll just sit in the back because it's safer." Brittany seemed content with this answer and we all got in the car. The ride was completely silent which was weird because I expected Brittany to say at least one thing. "What's wrong Berry, I expected you to be talking nonstop." Quinn said after awhile.

"Yeah Rachy, you're never quiet. You talk all the time, and usually you use really big words that are hard for me to understand. I always ask Lord Tubbington to translate what you say later." I couldn't even fathom the correct way to respond to that. Brittany usually left people speechless, mostly because what she said just confused them more.

"I'm just worried." I said as we pulled into Quinn's large house. I looked up and saw a white picket fence at the side and a small dog barking from the backyard. This is exactly how I pictured her house. From the outside looking in, it seemed like Quinn had the perfect life, but I knew differently. Everyone knew differently. Her father had left and she'd just given up her baby. Quinn wasn't the perfect girl that I brought her up to be. In fact no one seemed perfect to me anymore.

"Me too." Brittany said before we walked into her house. We didn't try to settle in, Quinn offered water, but I rejected. I don't know what it was but Quinn seemed a little detached. She was thinking about this more than I was, and somehow all these thoughts were making her turn cold.

"How long have you guys known about the abuse?" If I wanted them to open up to me, they both had to know that secrets and cover-ups would never help anyone. I know what I said was bold; I could tell by their expressions that they weren't comfortable with this subject.

"Rachel now's not the time." Quinn said rubbing Brittany's back in an attempt at consoling the simple girl.

"If not now, then when? I'm tired of waiting…you guys can talk to me about it." I told them.

"I knew about it first." Brittany confessed. "She…she came over one night with bruises all over her body and a black eye. She wouldn't tell me what happened, but I knew I guess." It was weird seeing the lighthearted girl so broken down.

"It's never easy with Santana; we'd be sitting in here when we were kids. I'd be holding bandages and alcohol pads in my hands, trying to clean her wounds, and I could see the pain in her eyes." Quinn stood up and began to aimlessly clean up some things on her dresser. I watched her intently knowing that she was only moving to stop herself from crying again. "She told me once that she wished I didn't know, because she saw me crying over her. She said she hated to cause her friends pain." Quinn bit her lips and looked up at the ceiling as she was trying to hold back her tears. "Damn her." Quinn said shaking her head and letting one tear fall down her cheek.

"I thought you were friends again." Brittany said scrunching up her face in confusion.

"No Britt that's not what I meant…Jesus." Quinn wiped her eyes and turned away from Brittany and I. "Sometimes I hate her for making me care so damn much."

"I could never hate San." Brittany said quietly.

"Quinn doesn't hate her. She just means it's very frustrating sometimes. You know when you care so much about someone and you can't do anything to protect them." I explained to Brittany without breaking eye contact with Quinn. Quinn glared at me for a second before looking down.

"Sometimes I wish Santana didn't befriend you, you should really mind your own damn business." I knew that Quinn wasn't actually upset. I actually think she was somewhat jealous that Santana was opening up to someone besides her for a change.

"Quinn come on, be nice to her." Brittany urged.

"I know I'm the outsider in this group, but it won't make me care any less for her. You'll just have to accept that Santana and I are friends." I said crossing my arms over my chest. I would've continued with my rant about how cruel Quinn was to me last year, but decided against it. Maybe she'd been through enough.

"Consider it accepted Berry but I swear on my great grandfather's grave if you-." Quinn was cut off by the doorbell ringing. She didn't finish her thought, instead she left her room to go downstairs to see who was at the door.

Santana's POV

Puck pulled into Quinn's driveway and before the car even stopped Che was bouncing up and down on my lap. He was so excited to see Quinn and Brittany, but overjoyed that he would be seeing Rachel again. I opened the car door and he ran up to Quinn's front door. He had to jump to reach the doorbell but he finally did reach it as Puck and I walked up behind him.

"Hey where the fuc-….hi Che." Quinn said catching herself before she cursed in front of my little brother. Che hugged her tightly around her thighs and she smiled at him. "Britt and Rachel are upstairs." She told us ushering us inside. Puck ran upstairs with Che and just as Quinn was about to turn and follow I reached out and stopped her.

"You know earlier wasn't about you." I told her.

"You snubbed me and then made me babysit your little project." I knew Quinn wasn't very fond of Rachel, but did she have to call her my project? That was rude and I wasn't going to take it, not from her. "Sorry, I'm just feeling a little…nuts."

"Everyone feels like that sometimes." I told her bringing her into a tight embrace. "Anyway…" I said once we'd separated. "Let's go up stairs." We hustled upstairs to find Che entertaining Rachel and Brittany while Puck was trying to look through Quinn's drawers.

"Puckerman hands off!" Quinn shouted going over to berate him.

"…so she does talk about me." I could hear Rachel say to Che as I was just about to go and protect Puck from being slapped by Quinn. I could do both if I just eavesdropped carefully.

"All the time." Che said. "She was talking about you on the way over here, and when we're on the phone she'll ask me what I think about you-." I ran over and covered my brother's mouth with my hand.

"I think that's enough Chichi." I said.

"But he was just getting to the good part." Brittany said trying to pull my hand off my brother's mouth. "San you're brother's so cute, he's like a mini you." Brittany said once I had encouraged Che to stop talking about Rachel and I.

"Yeah a mini annoying me." I mumbled. Che tried to tackle me to the ground but I held him in a headlock while messing up his hair.

"Jeez he's feisty…runs in the family apparently." Rachel said with a smirk. I let go of Che and watched as he puffed out his chest. "Che, why don't you come over here?" Rachel said offering him a seat on her lap. Don't get me wrong, it was embarrassingly juvenile to be jealous of Che, but I couldn't help it.

"Do you guys want to hear a song?" We all turned to Brittany in shock. I would expect this from Rachel, but not from her. We nodded all at once and Brittany smiled and clapped her hands in excitement. "Puck I need your help." Puck was already ready to respond with a sexual remark but decided against it because Che was here.

Puck picked up Quinn's acoustic guitar and began strumming just like Brittany explained. Brittany began dancing around Quinn's room, amazing us with her sheer skill. I didn't recognize the tune, and I was anticipating a Britney Spears song or maybe Kesha, but when Brittany started singing I was just as shocked as everyone else.

_Got you in the palm of my hand  
>Wanna put something hot in you<br>So hot that you can't stand_

_Gonna take you to my lips  
>Empty out every last drop<br>So thirsty for what's in you baby  
>That i can't stop<em>

_In the middle of the night, i'm in bed all alone  
>Don't care if you're glass, paper, styrofoam<br>When i need some water, baby  
>Coffee or gin<br>You're the only thing, i wanna put them in  
>My cup, my cup<br>Sayin' "what's up?"  
>To my cup<br>More than a friend then a silly pup  
>My cup<br>You know what it is  
>Sayin' "what's up?"<br>To my cup  
>(ahh)<br>Sayin' "what's up?"  
>To my cup<br>(ahh)  
>Sayin' "what's up?"<br>To my cup_

If I could pull myself out of the confused daze and take a picture of everyone else in their confused daze I would. I starred at Brittany with my mouth practically hitting the ground, while simultaneously trying not to laugh. I turned and looked at Rachel who had her head cocked to it's side and the same puzzled expression. Quinn's face was as scrunched up in bewilderment as Puck's was and he was playing the song.

Only Che clapped loudly and cheered for Brittany. "Wait hold up…what was th-…was that about…" Rachel was trying to articulate her thoughts will trying to alleviate her pure confusion.

"Britt-Britt, please tell me that wasn't a song about a cup." I said shaking my head.

"Why would I tell you that? It was about a cup." Brittany still continued to smile.

"Encore, encore!" Chichi shouted.

"Nope I think that's enough." Puck said putting the guitar back on it's stand and going over to hop on Quinn's bed. "So what's goin down? I'm starving, are we eating or what?" Puck asked rubbing his stomach.

"Sounds like a plan." Quinn said dangling her keys up indicating that we'd be going out to eat.

"Yay! Food." Brittany squealed giving me a high five. We all began standing up and walking down the stairs. Rachel was behind me as we were walking and just when I was about to exit Quinn's room I turned towards her. Everyone was already downstairs and probably waiting, but they could wait.

"Thank you." I said leaning down and connecting our lips gently.

"For what?" She questioned.

"I don't know…I just really wanted to kiss you."

"**My Cup" sung by Heather Morris (Glee)**


	17. Chapter 17

**Infinity Edge: **Thank you for the wonderful review. Yeah I'd defiantly say that I wish this was the storyline for the second season, and I'm not just saying that because I wrote it.

**lily loveless: **Yeah Santana's father is a horrible person, you'll find out what Santana really thinks of him a little bit in this chapter.

**Enjoy.**

Rachel's POV

"So did you have a good time?" I asked an exhausted Santana. We had just dropped off Che back to his Aunt's place and now Santana and I were just arriving at my front door. She had her arm over my shoulder, lazily, and she was trying not to fall asleep standing up.

I would be exhausted too if I had a day like she had. She must be stressed beyond repair at this point. I opened my front door quietly so I wouldn't disturb my fathers, and I practically dragged Santana up the stairs.

"I had a great time." Santana said with her eyes closed. We walked upstairs and she collapsed onto my bed still mumbling as I watched in amusement.

"Oh is it past little Tana's bedtime?" I joked. Santana rolled over and looked up at me peeking through one eye to see me standing by the door. She urged me to come over to the bed with her pointer finger but I shook my head no. I bent down to reach into my drawer to get some cozy pajamas. I heard a loud whistle from behind me as I was still bent over. "Really? How old are you?"

"Old enough to know that you my friend are sexy." She responded.

"Santana." I said in a whiny voice. "Turn around so I can change." She leaned back on the bed and closed her eyes. That would have to be good enough at this point. I slipped out of my sweater and skirt to put on some short shorts and a tank top. When I returned to look at Santana she was lying there with a playful smirk on her face and her eyes wide open. "I can't believe you looked!"

"Couldn't help it." Santana said grinning. She was in sweats in a t-shirt, and I assumed she couldn't get anymore comfortable than that. "Are you just gonna stand there or what?" She asked after awhile. I blushed and walked over to turn off the lights before I got in the bed next to her.

"Goodnight Santana." I whispered.

"Whoa, hold on Princess…are you going to bed now?" She asked before I could bury myself deeper into the sheets.

"You were practically sleep walking before. You looked tired so I assumed you didn't want to stay up any longer." I said explaining to her.

"Yeah well that was until I just saw you half naked." Even in the dark I could see her mischievous smile. She kissed me without hesitation and I kissed her back hard. I knew this day had been emotional for the both of us, which must have been why we were kissing so passionately.

Santana pulled me on top of her and began kissing my neck. I tried to hold back my moan, but she nipped down on my ear and I couldn't control myself. She slipped her hand in under my shirt and began massaging my bare breast. My nipples hardened under her touch, and I moaned when she pinched down on them.

"Shit Santana." I was as surprised as Santana was about my language but the way she was grinding her hips into me was making me lose it. She wedged her leg in between mine and when I felt her knee rub my clit, an earth-shattering moan escaped my lips.

"Oh my god Rach…fuck…I'm gonna make you scream." I have never been so turned on than I am now. Santana reached her hands down and grabbed my ass, hard. I groaned into her mouth and she bit down on my lip.

Santana lifted me up and reversed our positions so that she was no on top. She ground her knee into my core and I could feel myself getting increasingly wet. Impossibly wet, and it was all for her. Santana moved her lips down to my collarbone and began peppering me with kisses all the way up to my pulse point.

God this felt so good. She felt so good; everything she was doing was perfect and right. And then she slipped her hand between my legs and I practically jumped off the bed in surprise. She pulled away with an apologetic look on her face. "Shit, I'm sorry, that was too much." She said trying to regain her composure.

"It's not that…it's just…I'm a virgin." The way those words sounded made me want to gag. Santana was miles ahead of me in every aspect, and now I just felt like a stupid little kid. I wanted to get up and run to the bathroom, like the drama queen that I was, but Santana grabbed me around the waist and pulled me in close to her.

"I shouldn't have pushed you this far…sorry I was-."

"Horney?" I said leaning back into her arms.

"For lack of a better term…yes." She said before laying an array of kisses down on my shoulder. "I'll wait for you." She said once we had been cuddling for a few minutes.

"You promise?" I don't know why but I had this fear that she'd just leave me. Sometimes it all just felt like a dream anyway. I mean it would be easy for her to reject me again and go back to being the popular one sided girl that most people knew her as. I also know that she wouldn't do that. She opened up to me about a lot of things, she'd already let me in, there was no pushing me away now.

"I promise."

Santana's POV

"Thank you so much for letting Chichi hang out with us today, he's been dying to spend more time with us…and by _us _I actually mean you." I told Rachel as we watched Che play on the playground with a few other kids from where we were seated on the bench.

"Oh please he loves being here with you." Rachel said playfully slapping my shoulder. "It's just an awesome bonus that I'm here to, I am pretty irresistible." She said with a grin.

"That you are Rachel Berry, that you are." I wrapped my arm around her for a second and took in the environment around us. It was getting pretty deep into autumn, which is why I bundled up Che so much, but the breeze felt good. Most of the leaves had already fallen and the sun was partially hidden by some grey clouds. "Do you think I look like him?" I asked Rachel nodding over to Che.

"Yeah it's something about your eyes." Rachel responded. "Why do you ask?"

"Because my father had him with another woman." I said looking off into the distance. I realized how that sounded, and I didn't want to protect my father's reputation but I felt I needed to be clear. "I mean…after my mom…after she died. Che's my half brother…the eyes, that can't be it."

"I don't understand." Rachel said looking up at me through her thick eyelashes. I was now feeling uncomfortable. Why did Rachel always make me break? Somehow, no matter what she did, I always felt like I had to open up to her.

"We can't have the same eyes, because that would mean that I'm wrong." I contemplated continuing on with this conversation. This was too much, I'd gone too far. "I always thought my father hit me because of my eyes, because I have the same eyes as her…my mother. I thought that he couldn't stand looking at me because I looked too much like her. That's how I accepted it, because I knew he was hurting too. That's how I could still feel for him…until he hit Che." Rachel looked at me and then down at the ground. I knew it would be hard for someone else to understand this. It made perfect sense in my mind; it's what I lived by.

"He's a monster for hurting someone as beautiful as you." Rachel said letting her hand graze my cheek.

"No, he's a monster for hurting Che." I told her. "Ale's going to crack soon, and then my dad will know where Che is. I have to do something to protect him…I might have to run." Rachel threw my arm off of her shoulder and stood up facing me.

"You can't run! Not again, haven't you had enough of that?" Rachel asked. I could see some of the parents looking back at us, and I grabbed Rachel's wrist and pulled her back down to a seated position.

"I'm not doing this for me, it's for Che." I explained to her.

"Where would you go? How would you get the money?" Rachel questioned.

"I could go to New York, that's where my mom's family lives, I'd set Che up there…I could let him stay there and I'll go to a shelter-."

"So you're just going to throw your life away because of him?" Rachel cracked.

"He's my brother!" I snapped back.

"I'm talking about your father. He's been pushing you around all your life and now he gets to do it again?" She questioned. I didn't get time to respond to her question because Che was running over to us. Rachel and I put on big grins, trying to clear the tension in the air.

I opened my arms for a hug, but instead Che ran over to Rachel and hugged her tight. I couldn't believe how attached he was to her only after a few days. "Can we got get ice cream?" Che asked from Rachel's lap.

"Sure we can." Rachel said. "Let me see your eyes for a second." Che turned to face Rachel opening his eyes super wide for her to see. She looked at him and then at me. "I was wrong, it's not the eyes…it's the innocence."

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	18. Chapter 18

**lily loveless: **Yeah I had to make it so that her father didn't just hit her just because she was there, there had to be a reason that he hits her and not Alejando or Che (well until now).

**Princesakarlita:** I'm happy that you like this story and keep reading.

**OTHangels: **What's not to love about Santana?

**So is anyone else super excited that Naya Rivera is the new spokeswoman for Proactive? Because I defiantly am. **

**This chapter features a lot of Quinn, and I've decided that I've got something in store for her as well. I mean what could be better than a little more drama?**

**Enjoy**

Santana's POV

"Hey, family reunion!" I turned around to see Puck walking into the ice cream parlor with Brittany and Quinn following closely behind. I nodded over to them, making room in the booth for them to sit with us.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked playfully. Puck ordered the girls their ice cream, Rocky Road for Brittany and Double scoop double chocolate fudge for Quinn. He got himself a banana split as they sat down.

"I still have cravings from the baby." Quinn responded in a nonchalant tone. I knew that she was trying to distance herself from her child, maybe by not calling her Beth, or maybe from eating ice cream to ease the pain. Brittney looked over at Quinn and frowned.

"So how is it going on the squad? Sue still destroying kids lives?" I asked Brittany.

"It's so tough without you San; you were the only one who could keep up with my awesome dance moves. Now we have to slow things down by like a million for people to keep up." I smirked a little to myself. I was sorry for leaving Quinn and Brittany, but I sure as hell did not miss Sue. If I wanted to be screamed at, well I'd just stay home.

"Still can't believe you broke up the unholy trinity." Quinn said shaking her head.

"I didn't break it up, we're sitting right here aren't we…plus I think we have a pretty nice addition." I said winking at Rachel. Quinn rolled her eyes at me before taking a huge scoop of ice cream and putting it in her mouth. I watched her and inadvertently licked my lips. Without hesitation Quinn gave me a knowing grin.

"So you and Rachel have become close huh? Well good for you." Quinn could be snarky, but right now she was just being rude. "How close?" She asked. Puck's mouth hit the ground and I looked over at Rachel, not knowing how she felt about this. Brittany was too invested in playing with Che to notice what was going on around her.

"Oh Quinn you're getting a little feisty." Puck said smiling at her.

"Learned from the best." Quinn said locking eyes with me.

"Hey, Che you ready to go back to Auntie Garcia's place?" I asked in a rapid attempt to change the subject. I still didn't know if Rachel wanted me to tell them about how there was something going on between us. The way she looked at Quinn when she asked how close we were, it wasn't fear it was…jealousy.

"Britt said that we could watch a movie." Che said looking over at me with pleading eyes. I smiled at my little brother, because he knew how to get exactly what he wanted. I nodded and he clapped in excitement along with Brittany. We finished up our ice cream and went outside.

"As much as I'd love to join you all, I have a date…me and Mercedes." He said with a huge grin as he left.

"Fuck me." I said in astonishment watching as Puck drove off.

"Anytime." Quinn said licking her lips as she walked past me seductively towards my car. I felt my cheeks flush and I tried to ignore her comment as the three of us including my little brother got in my car. I drove to Britt's house while trying to avoid Quinn's gaze the whole time.

When we arrived, Brittany decided that we were making this a sleepover without my consent. But Rachel and Che pleaded with me so much that I couldn't say no. While Che, Rachel and Brittany were picking out a movie in Brittany's room Quinn and I were waiting in the basement for them to come down.

"Quinn why are you doing this?" I asked her.

"Doing what? Sitting here waiting to watch a movie with my friends?" She questioned innocently. I would applaud her efforts of being clueless if I didn't see right through her. "Chill, it was only a joke…I can see that you like her." She seemed a bit disappointed.

"You can't talk about it." I told her.

"Consider it forgotten." She said lying right through her teeth. We looked up just in time to see Brittany running down the steps with Che in Rachel's arms right behind her.

"Finding Nemo!" Brittany exclaimed putting in the DVD and turning off the lights. Luckily, the couch is huge so we could all fit on it comfortably. Che was sitting on Brittany's lap and they were both completely intrigued by the movie. Quinn was seated next to Brittany, then me, and Rachel. Rachel was cuddled up close to me, with her arms around my waist and head under my chin. I could feel Quinn's eyes on us, and I finally had enough of it.

"What?" I asked her.

"Nothing." She said shyly turning away from me. I returned my attention to Rachel who was gently playing with my hair.

"I really want to kiss you." Rachel whispered in my ear. I looked over at Brittany and Che who were now seated on the floor and even closer to the TV than they were before. Quinn was still very close to me, but she was also looking at the movie now.

"Do it." I whispered back with a daring smile. Rachel scooted over closer to me and leaned in to kiss me softly on my lips. "Is that all you got?" I challenged.

"Later." She promised with a light giggle. I played with the hem of her shirt out of habit and I could feel her squirming under my touch. "Santana stop." Rachel warned.

I leaned into her and started kissing her neck, sucking on her pulse point every few seconds. "mm…Santana…stop." Rachel said trying to regain her composure even though I knew she really wanted to jump on top of me. She was finally able to push me away and create some separation between us.

"I'm gonna go change into some pajamas." Rachel said getting up and beginning to walk out of the room. She wagged her finger 'no' just when she sensed that I was about to get up and follow her. I sat there annoyed while Rachel was gone.

"You two gonna fuck tonight?" Quinn whispered into my ear.

"Shut up." I snapped at Quinn who only wore an amused grin.

"Is she good in bed? Does she let you finger her until she comes, screaming your name the whole time." Quinn whispered with her breath reaching my ear and sending shivers down my spin. She grabbed my thigh and slowly moved it up until her fingers danced just around my core.

"Stop." I told her pulling her hand away. "If you care about me, then you'd stop."

"Oh come on, don't tell me you love her." Quinn said furrowing her eyebrows. I looked down and then back up at her. I slid over so that she couldn't grope me anymore.

"I like her that should be enough." I told Quinn. Quinn glared at me with those cold hazel eyes of hers. I knew she hated feeling that's why she was acting this way, it was because sometimes she was worse than me. Dismissive and afraid, that's what she was.

"Enough for her maybe, she's easy to please…don't you want a challenge?" Brittany turned around and shushed us. We kept quiet for a few moments before Quinn tapped my shoulder.

"She is a challenge." I told Quinn. I stood up and began to exit the room when I felt someone tug on my leg.

"Where are you going Tana?" Che asked.

"I'm going to check on Rachel." I told him before unlatching my leg from his grip. "I'll be right back." I said.

"Let us know how's she's doing." Quinn said in a sinister voice.

Rachel's POV

I heard a knock at the bathroom door and I was only in my bra and boy shorts. I tried rushing to throw on a t-shirt or something, but by the time I was bending down the door was already open and Santana was standing behind me. "Santana!" I said throwing my hand over her eyes. I pushed her back just enough so that she was pressed up against the door, and my body was up against hers.

She smiled even though she couldn't see me. Her fingers began reached out and running up and down my stomach. "Nuh-uh you can't touch." I said slapping her hands away. I pushed into her harder and reached my left hand under her shirt. Her abs tensed up at my touch and she licked her lips involuntarily. "How do you stay in such good shape?" I asked her.

I lifted her shirt higher and looked at her bruises again. I touched them slowly wondering if any of them still hurt. Her breath hitched before she didn't move away like I'd expected her to. "Does this hurt?" I asked her.

"No." She responded quietly. I kept my hand over her eyes and began kissing her slowly. She responded quickly, and I knew it would be a matter of time before she had me pressed up against the door. "Rach-…what are you…oh." I began unbuckling her belt and tugging her jeans down.

"Let me make you feel good." I told her in between kisses. I slipped my hand in under her panties. She began panting and kissing me back harder when I grazed over her clit. "God, you're soaking wet." I told her as I rubbed my finger in between her folds. She moaned when I rubbed my finger over her core. I didn't know if I should go further. She seemed like she wanted it, but I was hesitant. Just when I was about push my finger inside her someone's hand began banging against the door.

"Dammit!" Santana said as I was forced to pull my hand away from her eyes and out of her panties. She frantically began pulling up her pants and fixing her shirt. I looked at her amused, that she was so upset that we were interrupted. "I bet it's Quinn." Santana said shaking her head. Before she could open up the door to check to see who was outside Brittany burst in and rushed to the counter.

"Hey guys, I really need to floss Lord Tubbington's teeth." She said rummaging through her draw by her sink. "Were you two having sex?" She asked once she had the floss in her hand. She looked Rachel up and down and smiled. "San, why didn't you ask me to join? I love sex…oh and Rachel has such a pretty voice, I bet her moans are amazing." Santana blushed ferociously but I literally had to cover my face completely by both hands. I was over being embarrassed by being half naked in front of Brittany, but now I was in shock at how open Brittany was.

"Britt, do you mind leaving?" Santana asked.

"Sure." Brittany said before she happily skipped out of the room.

"I can't believe she…no wait actually I can totally believe that." Santana said on second thought. She looked at my body again and then back up at me.

"Did you get a good look?" I asked as I put on some pajama pants and a t-shirt.

"Don't worry, I've already seen you naked." She said with a sly grin.

"What?" She ran out of the room, before I could attack her right away. We spent the next ten minutes running around Brittany's house. I was furious that she'd seen me nude, but Santana was just laughing the whole time through.

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	19. Chapter 19

**Since ths3836, lily loveless, and Princesakarlita411 all seem to have the same question from the reviews, I'm assuming other people reading this are wondering the same thing. So let me just respond by saying yes Quinn is jealous of Rachel, and you're about to find out why in this chapter.**

**Also specifically to ths3836: Santana will have happy times, but that'll be in a little bit, defiantly not in this chapter. lily loveless: Naya is the new spokeswoman for Proactive. She'll be on posters and commercials and other stuff for the product which is awesome. **

**I hope you all enjoy this chapter.**

Santana's POV

I really had a good time at Brittany's house, even though Quinn was acting a little crazy. I understood why though, it wasn't like it was out of the blue or anything. I don't think Rachel noticed anything, she was too focused on playing with Che, and way to embarrassed that Brittany had seen her half naked last night.

"San, can you tell Rachel to stop using such big words?" Brittany said. I looked over and saw Rachel talking to Che and my little brother having the hugest smile on his face. He must be smiling just to keep her happy, what a good kid.

"Oh is she confusing Chichi?" I asked.

"No she's confuzzling me." Brittany responded. I giggled a little to myself, grabbed Brittany's hand in a playful way, and brought her over to Rachel and Che.

"Rachel." I said softly and she turned away from Che and smiled at me. "Brittany says you're using really big words, it's very confusing to her, and she'd like it if you used normal people words." I explained in a very childish way. Rachel smirked at me and then looked over at Brittany.

"I apologize, I promise to use…normal people words Brittany." Brittany let go of my hand and wrapped her arms tightly around Rachel in a suffocating hug. "Can't…breathe." Rachel manage to say, and Brittany released her.

"Where's Quinnie?" Brittany asked. I looked around and realized she was no where in sight. Maybe she was still sleeping.

"I'll go find her." I offered just as Brittany took a seat on Rachel's lap. "Um…Britt, what are you doing?"

"Rachel's comfy." Brittany exclaimed and Che nodded in agreement.

"Jealous?" Rachel said in a flirtacious tone.

"Not at all." I lied before I took the steps up to the guest room that Quinn slept in last night. The door was closed so I opened it quietly and walked in. She was still under the covers, sleeping peacefully. I checked the time and it read 12:45, she really should be getting up now anyway. "Quinn." I whispered as I brushed the hair out of her face and placed my hand gently on her shoulder.

"Hm." She mumbled with her eyes still closed.

"Can't believe a perfect girl like you would be sleeping in so late. Come on, everyone's downstairs, Che wants to say bye to you before Rach and I head home." I told her shaking her shoulder a little harder.

"When are you going to tell her?" Quinn asked out of the blue.

"Tell who what?" I asked confused.

"Tell Rachel that you and I fucked." Quinn said opening her eyes for the first time. She propped herself up on her elbows and watched me squirm. Wasn't she the one to say that we wouldn't bring this up again? It wasn't right for her to do this, not now. Things with Rachel were going good, and I was starting to fall for her.

"So much for considering it to be forgotten." I mumbled getting up off the bed and walking over to close the door. I looked back at Quinn with furrowed eyebrows. "Why are you doing this? Can't you just let it alone?" I asked.

"No." She said sitting up in the bed. She beckoned for me to come over and get under the covers with her. "Don't pretend that you didn't like it." I wanted to get out of there fast. I knew Quinn wasn't going to drop it until Rachel found out, or when I slept with her again.

"It was a mistake Quinn." I said trying to hide my frustrations. Quinn stood up and approached me with a determined expression.

"No it wasn't, it felt good…especially for you." Quinn add the last part before she wrapped her arms around my neck. "I know you want me, so fuck me." She tried to lean in and kiss me but I pushed her away.

"I slept with you because my dad beat the shit out of me and I'd have done anything to feel good. If you hadn't showed up I would've slept with Brittany or Puck, or anyone. It meant nothing, and you know it. Your hormones were crazy then, it was after you had Beth-." At the mention of her baby's name Quinn slapped me hard across the face. I was too engrossed in what I was saying, in telling Quinn that sleeping with her meant nothing that I didn't even see that she was in tears. The smack hurt, but I barley flinched, I wasn't surprised that she was angry, but I was surprised that she hit me.

"San-." She reached out to stop me from turning away from her, but I brushed her off before she could say something else.

"I get that you're angry, but I didn't think you'd ever…I thought you understood." I didn't think she'd ever hit me. Puck played around sometimes, but he would never even fake hit me. It was an unspoken rule, and Quinn knew that.

"I didn't mean to, you know I didn't." She said avoiding my gaze.

"Quinn we can't be fuck buddies anymore-." There wasn't a knock at the door or any footsteps. All I could hear was a gasp and then the _clank_ of shoes running down the hall. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that it was Rachel. I wanted to chase after her, but I knew she'd be angry. I wanted to tell her, but now she had to find out like this, but it wasn't like it looked. Quinn and I just happened, out of pity from both of us, and there was nothing but friendship going on now.

"San, are you okay?" Quinn asked putting her hand on my shoulder. I was starring at the door, still wondering if I should run after Rachel. What about Quinn? She was obviously hurt. I knew she didn't like me romantically, she just wanted to feel, she wanted the same thing as me: a simple gesture of love.

Shit. Che's downstairs, and Rachel must be upset. I had to drive them both back to Rachel's house, and there was no way that was going to be an easy ride. What's Brittany doing? Is she trying to comfort Rachel, or is she going to run up here at any moment and yell at me like Rachel should have done. "San, you don't look…shit San…don't blackout again." This was different than what happened in the choir room. Now it was as if I was watching from a distance. Quinn was trying to snap me out of it, and I was motionless. I fell to my knees and tried to stay conscious with all my might. "Santana!" I looked up at her, regaining my composure. Somehow, the urgency in her voice snapped me out of my episode.

"That was…close." I said taking in a few deep breaths. I stood up and looked at Quinn again. "I have to talk to her about it." I said finally.

"She won't understand." Quinn replied.

"She will…she has too."

Rachel's POV

I wanted to puke. I wanted to die. I wanted to run like I'd never run before. Most importantly I wanted to scream and hit her, I wanted to hate her. But I couldn't do anything, we were in the car, Che was seated in his booster seat and I was in the passenger's seat doing nothing but staring holes in the side of Santana's head.

"Well talk about it I promise." Santana said without even glancing over at me.

"There's a lot to talk about." I told her crossing my arms over my chest.

"It wasn't like that Rach, it didn't mean anything-." I was just starting to believe her when she stopped talking unexpectedly. "Are your dads home?" She asked.

"I don't see how that has anything to do with-."

"Are they home?" She questioned more sternly this time. I looked up and spotted a _Ford Focus _parked in my driveway. That was strange, neither of my fathers drove that model car, and neither did anyone I knew. The frown on Santana's face and the knowing glare made me understand that the car belong to her father. I half expected her to speed off and never look back, but instead she parked the car next to her dad's in my driveway. "Rachel, get in the driver's seat." She commanded as she put the car in park.

"What? You can't go in there." I told her. She looked back at Che and ignored me for a second before returning my gaze. She opened her door and stepped out.

"Drive back to Brittany's house now. No questions Rachel please." I nodded and so did Santana. She looked back at me for reassurance and I quickly got over to the driver's seat and watched as she darted into my house.

What was I going to do? I couldn't just drive back to Brittany's and leave Santana there with her father. Crap, and I had to take care of Che. "Where's Tana going?" Che questioned in the most innocent voice I'd ever heard.

"Che, can I ask you to be a big boy and stay out here for five minutes?" The boy's eyes widened, but not in fear, more so in excitement. I could see that Santana left her cell phone in the car and I reached out to grab it. "Here, do you know the number to call when someone's in trouble?" I asked.

"9-1-1 duh!" He exclaimed.

"Good, so if anything bad happens I'm going to need you to be a big boy and call that number." He nodded and took the phone eagerly. I opened the car door and stepped out locking it behind me, but being sure to smile at Che before I left. He's been through enough, he didn't need to be afraid.

I opened my front door slowly, not really knowing what to expect. The house was completely silent, and for a second I thought that maybe they were talking, very quietly upstairs maybe. At one point I even thought that they might be embracing, coming together and apologizing for good, but then I heard it. The sound of a hand whipping across someone's face, rippled through the air.

I caught my breath just as Santana screamed out in pain. They were upstairs. They were in my room. "You stupid fucking bitch!" And then another smack, harder this time. A loud thud came from upstairs and I ran as fast as I could to reach the sounds. "You can't take him away!" I heard a crash and just as I entered my room, Santana's father had his hand around her throat clenching tighter and tighter. He hit her two more times before I mustered up the strength to shout out.

"Let her go!" I screamed and he immediately dropped Santana to the floor. She was gasping for air for a second. She looked up at me in surprise and tried to stand to her feet but she fell back down.

"Who are you?" He asked in an angry tone. He was taller than I thought he would be. He was built very strongly, but not to the point that I thought he worked out everyday. He had a rugged beard which aged him too much, and his eyes were much darker and crueler than Santana's.

"I'll call the police." I threatened. He began to pace towards me and Santana lunged at him, yanking him back with such force that I thought he'd fall. Instead, he regained his balance and smacked the already beaten Santana across the face. "Don't!" I yelled wanting to run across and save her from getting attacked again, but Santana stood between her father and I.

"I'll come with you." She said holding him back with weak knees.

"What?" He snapped.

"I'll come with you, back home." She looked down at the ground swiping her tongue across her bleeding lip. "Che and I will come back. I'm sorry for what I did, it was wrong." The words sounded so wrong coming out of her mouth. It was wrong. She didn't do anything wrong, all she was trying to do was protect her brother and herself.

"Be home in an hour, and if your not…" He never finished his sentence, but anyone could have finished it for him. He walked past me without acknowledging my existence whatsoever. I heard his car start outside and the tires burn and squeal as he pulled out of my driveway and drove down the street.

"Wha-." I didn't even get a chance to finish a word. Santana was already standing so close to me, standing there with the most intense glare I'd ever seen from her.

"I don't blame you for this; you did exactly what I would have done. I only asked you to leave to protect Che, but now we've got to go back. I can protect him there, all that I ask is that you don't say anything about this to anyone." Her voice was emotionless, but I didn't need her to cry in front of me for me to know that she was in pain.

"You shouldn't have apologized to him." I told her just as she stopped at the threshold of my door.

"If I didn't he wouldn't have let me come back to the house with Che. I've got to be there with my brother." She explained.

"Even if it means this?" I said referring to the abuse.

"Even if it means this." She replied before walking down the stairs and going out to her car.

**Read and Review please. I'm not exactly sure where I'm going to go in the next few chapters. I have a few ideas, but I'd really love some feedback on some other suggestions.**


	20. Chapter 20

**This chapter was totally rushed, but I wanted to finish it before tomorrow. Happy Holidays everyone.**

**Enjoy.**

Santana's POV

It wasn't that bad going back to my father's house. It would've been much worse if I had put up a fight, I reminded myself of that. I didn't go to school for the next three days. I knew that too many people would be asking questions if I went back right away. I didn't stay home either for those three days though, I went out to the park or out walking on the streets in Lima Heights. I didn't bother to call Rachel, I knew we both needed some time to think before we spoke again.

I felt my phone vibrate for the sixth time that day, and this time I actually bothered to check it.

**Rachel: _Where are you? This is the third day you've missed. I'm coming over to your house after school._**

Leave it to Rachel to be so persistent. I leaned back on the park bench and decided that maybe I should head home now anyway. I wanted to be there when Che got home from day care. I knew Ale would be there, but I didn't trust him to protect Che anymore. I knew he could hold off my father if he tried, but that was just it, he never tried.

I ran back to my car and drove home thinking about Rachel the whole time. That really was stupid of her to do, especially after I told her to drive away. Why did she think she could protect me? Why did she want to?

When I pulled up to my house I could see that Ale and Che were home, which is why I walked in so cheerful. My father would ask where I was all day and I didn't want to watch his eyes darken again. I didn't want him to yell at me, not in front of Che. "Tana!" Che screamed as he jumped into my arms.

"Where have you been?" Ale asked curiously. I brought Che into the kitchen and began making him his favorite sandwich. "Did dad know you were out of school?"

"No, I left this morning at the normal time. He doesn't care, you know that. He won't be mad for skipping." I said certainly. Ale shrugged and nodded.

"When's he getting back?" Ale asked. I heard keys in the door before I could answer. I looked at Ale and then gave Che a brave smile.

"Dad's home." I told Che in a fake cheerful voice. Normally Che would've smiled, but today he just got out of his seat and wrapped his arms around my leg. "Go upstairs and change into your comfy clothes." I urged him once I could hear the footsteps coming closer to the kitchen. Che didn't budge and it was too late for him to go when my father walked into the room. I bent down to hand Che his sandwich and he took it happily.

"_Habla conmigo_." My father said waving his arm at me. I wanted to take this to the other room, but my father didn't look happy. He'd never actually hit me in front of Che, maybe I'd be safe here. "Who was that girl you were staying with? Rachel was it?" Che's face immediately lit up at the sound of her name.

"Rachel! Do you know her too papi?" Che asked. My dad didn't try and hide the fact that he was furious. He knew that if I had been staying with her then she probably knew too much about the abuse.

"Why weren't you with Quinn or Brittany?" If he was anyone else I would've told him to back off. Did it really matter who I had stayed with anyone? What should matter is that I had to get away before he killed me, but my father never seemed fazed by my pain.

"Rachel offered first." I told him hoping that was a sufficient enough answer. The way he continued to walk closer to me let me know that it wasn't. I practically glared a hole through Ale's skull before he finally got the hint to take Che upstairs. "I didn't want to bother Quinn or Brittany again, I've crashed with both of them too many times." I turned away from him just as Ale took Che upstairs.

"How stupid are you?" He asked grabbing my wrist and pulling me around forcibly.

"I didn't want to bring her in, she didn't know until she saw." I wasn't trying to blame him for anything, but I knew it came out that way. It was too late to take it back, and it was too late to stop his hand from smacking across my face. I fell back against the counter, but not to the ground.

"Why her?" He questioned keeping a tight grip on my bicep. "You have Quinn, Brittany and that idiot Puck…so why let her in?"

"I don't know." I lied trying to keep the tears from falling.

"You know." He snapped raising up his hand to hit me again. I flinched as he smacked the counter behind me. "You may do stupid things, but you're not stupid. You let that girl in for a reason, and I want to know why. Don't lie to me!"

"She's nice-."

"Brittany's nice." He responding, waiting for a better explanation.

"She's care-." I tried again.

"They all care. Quinn, Puck, Brittany, they all fucking care. Don't lie to me, I thought those kids were your friends…did you whore yourself out to that boy? What about to the rest of them? Don't tell me you slept with those girls too-." I shook my head no and tried to pull away, but his grip was too tight.

"I didn't, I swear I didn't." I told him trying to avoiding looking into his eyes. I didn't _whore _myself out to any of them, but I did sleep with Quinn, but he couldn't know about that. I didn't know how he'd react if he found out that I was gay. "She was just being sweet…it's stupid really. She's too nice for her own good."

"I don't need her life story." He said backing away from me. "You'd better be telling me the truth, I don't like people coming up to me and talking about how my daughter's a dyke." He said reaching into the refrigerator and grabbing a beer. Wait, what did he mean by that?

"Someone said that?" I asked trying to keep my voice quiet and calm.

"Yeah someone did." He said tossing the bottle cap on the ground. "Some Pillsbury lady…" He mumbled. He didn't bother to pick up the bottle cap, but I did. I can't believe Ms. Pillsbury did that, she had no right to out me to my dad. I reached in my pocket and pulled out my phone. It was only one o'clock in the afternoon.

**[to Rachel]: _I'll come find you. Don't come here, I'm trying to protect you_.**

I reread the text at least six times before I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. She wasn't trying to protect me, all she was doing was getting herself hurt. I could help her if she only let me. I couldn't get that image of her father choking her out of my mind. She looked so helpless, she looked so hopeless. If I hadn't come up there…well I don't want to think about that.

"Hey dwarf." I'd recognize raspy cruel voice anywhere. It was Quinn, and from the light footsteps I could tell she was alone. That's why her calling me that name hurt worse. If she was with her popular friends and called me that then I knew it was just to keep up appearances, but we were alone now. She called me that because she really didn't like me. I didn't turn around and face her. "Rachel." She asked quieter this time as she placed her hand on my shoulder. I flinched at her touch, but she didn't pull away.

"What do you want?" I asked her. Truthfully, I wasn't as mad at Quinn as I was at Santana. Quinn did make me furious though. She always got what she wanted, even Santana. The problem was I couldn't be mad at Santana, not after what she's been through.

"Let's not hate each other." Quinn said taking the seat across from me in the room. I wondered how she knew I'd be in my English room thirty minutes after class was over. She must have asked around. "I have to explain this."

"No you don't. It isn't your place." I told her.

"It is, I promise it is." She assured me. "It didn't mean anything-."

"That's what people always say, don't they? They say that, and maybe it's true when it first happens, but over time it starts to grow meaning. Maybe you two don't care about it, maybe it really is meaningless, but sex means something to me. It's different for someone like me. I was saving myself for someone…someone like her." I know I was crying now, but Quinn barley looked up at me.

"Rachel, it didn't mean anything then and it means nothing now…to her at least." Quinn looked frustrated that she was letting herself get as emotional as me. "I practically threw myself at her. She had nowhere else to stay and my hormones were freaking out again. She knew if she didn't do something for me, then she'd be on the streets. I'm not proud of what I did, but I can't change it."

"I don't believe you." I said quietly, but I knew I did.

"Well then believe this, I called her back all the time, I wanted her to make me feel good again, but she wouldn't. She cares about you for some stupid reason." Quinn said wiping her eyes with the back of her arm. "She doesn't let people in, she used to go days without speaking to people, because she was afraid she'd let them too far into her life. She's terrified of how she feels about you, but she allows herself to feel."

"I can't protect her…I thought I could." I said. I stood up quickly suddenly feeling vulnerable under Quinn's gaze. "She told me not to come over, that she'll come find me."

"Well then trust her." Quinn said from where she was still seated. "She's coming here?"

"I'm assuming." I said reaching for a box of tissues and grabbing enough for myself before offering them to Quinn. "You can go to your cheer practice if you want-."

"I'll wait." Quinn said leaving no room for questions.

"I saw her father hit her." I said after a long silence filled with sniffles and the tissue box getting emptied. Quinn didn't respond instead she pleaded with her eyes, telling me not to continue.

"He's a bastard." Quinn said with more force than I had expected. "So have you and Santana…" She didn't have to finish the sentence for me to understand where it was going. My cheeks flushed and Quinn's Queen Bee smirk returned to her face.

"Not yet." I told her.

"Yet? So you're really thinking about it?" I nodded. "I wish I had waited with her, maybe the experience wouldn't have been so…rough."

"She's rough?" I questioned with an expression of astonishment.

"No…not really I mean. She's really gentle and sweet, also really hot. I think she might have a thing for biting." I pressed my hand to my neck trying to cover up the few marks that Santana had left on me. "Don't worry I already saw the marks." I retracted my hand instantly.

"You sure you still want to wait?" I asked her trying to change the subject.

"Yeah, I know she'll show…she likes you too much not to."

**Read and Review **


	21. Chapter 21

**Thank you all for the reviews, I wrote this in my hotel room at like 2 in the morning so I apologize for any mistakes. I hope you enjoy this chapter, there's Brittany, Quinn and Che in this one. **

Santana's POV

I pulled into the school parking lot and took a look out on the field. Cheer practice was just wrapping up and Brittany was walking across the lot to the locker rooms. "Britt!" I shouted out after her running to catch up. She swung around and rushed over towards me. "Where's Quinn?" I asked. After I quit the squad, Quinn and Brittany had become inseparable.

"She's with Rachy…she was going to tell Rachel about how you and her slept together. I can't believe you." I looked down; I didn't think that Brittany would be this upset with me. "You had sexy times with Quinn, but you won't have sex with me. I'm so jealous; I'm a jealous little panda." I frowned, mostly because Brittany was sad, but I just wrapped my arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a quick hug. "Can we please have a threesome?" Brittany questioned as we walked into the school.

"Uh…maybe." I said shaking my head at my ditsy friend.

I knew that Rachel would be in her English classroom, so I walked in there with Brittany still at my side. I found Quinn and Rachel giggling in seats sitting across from each other. "Hey, what's going on here?" I asked with a hint of resentment in my voice. I knew Quinn was angry sometimes, but that didn't mean she could get all cozy with Rachel.

"Hey San, we were just talking. Waiting for you to get here, we haven't seen you in three days." Quinn said standing up and wrapping her arms around me in a hug. "Rach told me she saw you get hit by him. Is this what he did?" She whispered in my ear grazing my fresh cut with her hand.

"It'll be fine." I told her letting go of the hug. I looked at Rachel who was still seated. I walked over tentatively not sure if she was going to hug me or smack me for lying about sleeping with Quinn. Rachel glanced down and looked back at me slowly with her wandering eyes.

"We'll leave you two…" Quinn said just as Rachel ran up and jumped into my arms. I held her tight, I couldn't let her go, I never wanted too. Brittany and Quinn were gone but even if they were there, I wouldn't mind showing how much I cared about Rachel in front of them.

"You scared me so much." Rachel said once we finally broke the embrace after about five minutes.

"I didn't mean to, but I couldn't let him hurt you or Che. I know it seems kinda crazy, but the arrangement at home is fine now." I told her trying to convince her not to worry.

"Tell that to this new scar under your eye." She said unconvinced. She brushed the hair out of my face away from my eyes and kissed me gently on the cheek. "Why'd he hit you? Is it because of me?" This wasn't her fault, she hadn't done anything wrong.

"It's not…it's not like that Rachel." I tried explaining.

"So it is. It's because of me-."

"No it's because of me!" I snapped unexpectedly. "My dad thought that I was…he thought I was sleeping with Puck, Quinn and Brittany in order to stay at their houses. He thought that I was being a slut, Ms. Pillsbury practically outed me to him, but I had to lie." She seemed taken aback.

"Stay with me tonight, please." She urged but all I could do was turn away from her. I couldn't leave Che at home like I did last time. "Bring Che; he can stay in the guest room." She offered.

"I'll ask, but it'll probably piss him off more." I told her as I hopped up on a desk. Rachel stood in front of me in between my legs. She began to play with my hands, touching my fingers lightly and kissing them every once in awhile. "Can we change this up a bit?" I asked her, but she just cocked her head to the side in confusion. I jumped off the desk and placed Rachel in my previous spot. Now I was between her legs and her skirt could not have looked any shorter than it did now.

I looked down at her amazingly toned legs and then up to her hips. When my eyes had finally roamed all over her body, they finally reached up to her eyes. "Like what you see?" She asked before she grabbed my collar and brought me in for a kiss. I slid her closer to me and ran my fingers up under her shirt. "My room is soundproof." She whispered huskily into my ear. She began nibbling down on my neck, and right then I knew I wanted to go over her house tonight.

"Alright I'm there." I told her backing up. "As much as I want to take you right here right now…I can hear Brittany and Quinn outside." I turned around and heard Quinn and Brittany giggle and walk into the room in a fit.

"We couldn't help it." Quinn said. Rachel tried desperately to fix her hair and slow down her breathing. I backed away and helped her down off the desk. "I can't believe you guys were gonna fuck right here." I nudged Quinn, but kept holding Rachel's hand.

"Where are you guys headed? Right to the bedroom?" Brittany asked.

"No, to my house to grab Che." Quinn looked at me as if I was crazy. "No I meant asking my dad first." I elaborated.

"Do you think he'll say yes?" Brittany asked.

"Yeah…well I hope so."

Rachel's POV

After three days, it felt amazing for Santana to be back at my house with me. Sure I wanted her all to myself, but Che was too charming not to love as well. I loved watching them bond, it really did show a different side of Santana. She was currently holding the small boy over her shoulder and swinging him around as he squealed loudly in excitement.

"Che the little plane, oh no the plane's gonna crash!" Santana shouted before dropping the boy onto a pile of comfy pillows.

"You two must be working up an appetite, I'll make some sandwiches." I offered as I got up from my spot on the couch.

"You got bananas?" Santana asked. I knew that the only thing that Che ate was peanut butter, banana, and jelly sandwiches. I nodded just before I skipped up the stairs and went into the kitchen ready to make those two goofballs some food. I was enjoying making their food when I heard the door to the basement squeak open. I turned around and saw that it was Santana, she had one of her playful smirks on her face and I didn't even want to know why.

I continued making Che's sandwich until Santana wrapped her arms around my waist. She began kissing my neck and pulling my hips into hers. "I'm starving…I wanna eat you." She wrapped her arms tighter around my hips and began grinding into me. I dropped the knife I was using to halfheartedly layer on peanut butter with. My knees were going weak and I didn't know if I would be able to stand. "Rachel…" She breathed out before her kissed began reaching my back and shoulders. I knew my sweater was getting in the way, because Santana began lifting the fabric and grinding into me harder. "…I can't wait."

"Your brother is downstairs." I said before she turned me around to face her.

"We'll be quiet." She assured me, but I didn't believe her. "Do you know how much I want you right now?" She said dropping down to her knees and attacking my stomach with kisses. I groaned when she let her tongue glide up to my bra. I pulled her up to and kissed her hard on those gorgeous lips of hers. Her hands went down to my butt and she squeezed me tight, and before I knew it, my legs were wrapped around her hips and she had me pressed up against the counter.

"Make me scream." I dared her. She began grinding her hips into my core and I couldn't stop the moans that escaped my lips. She felt so good, the way she was so in control, made me feel so good.

"Rachel?" Being caught was bad. Honestly, I think I could've handled being caught by Che though. He was only four after all, and he'd probably think we were just playing or something. The problem is we didn't get caught by Che, we got caught by my dads. Santana and I separated quickly and both looked down at the ground. Oh my god! There was no getting out of this, maybe if I just closed my eyes and counted to three this would all go away.

"Girls?" Dad and Daddy must have been shocked out of their skins, because they barley moved from the threshold of the kitchen door. "Santana…Rachel…please take a seat." Dad said. "Che's downstairs, why don't you go and check on him Leroy." Daddy looked relieved that he didn't have to deal with this because he practically sprinted down the steps.

Santana looked over at me and then took a seat like my dad said. I reluctantly took a seat next to Santana. I was so embarrassed, I'm sure my face was beet red. "Mr. Berry-." I was happy that Santana was at least trying to speak up.

"Santana, I think it would be better if I spoke this time." He said. "Now I know that you two are close, but before you take a step like that, you must be ready." Christ, he was having 'the talk' with me in front of Santana. "I have to be honest when saying that I really did not expect to find you two like…this. I thought I could leave you alone without any worries."

"Sir, this is my fault. I was pushing her towards this-." I understood that Santana was trying to save me from getting in trouble, but she didn't realize that my house was different from hers. If I got in trouble I wasn't going to get beaten, my fathers would scold me at most.

"No I wanted it too." I said boldly, much to the dismay of Santana. "Dad, I promise that Santana and I care a great deal about each other. I want you to trust us because we're old enough to deserve that." He nodded and smiled at me.

"I trust you… I trust you both." He said getting up. "But if you're going to have sex, please confine it to the _bedroom_. My eyes have been scared for life."


	22. Chapter 22

**Thank you for the reviews guys. Sorry I can't thank you all in particular, but I want you to know that I appreciate them all. This chapter is sort of a filler chapter, it's not very good, but I had to have something in between the last one and the next chapter. **

Santana's POV

I can't believe Rachel and I got caught by her fathers. It was beyond embarrassing, and even though her dads didn't seem like they were too upset with me, what happened later that night made me second guess that. Just after I had tucked Che into the guest bed, and kissed him on the forehead, I walked out in the hallway with the intention of walking back to Rachel's room. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw Rachel's dad standing there with his arms crossed over his shoulders.

"Mr. Berry." I said trying to figure out exactly where this would go. He'd already talked to Rachel and I earlier, what did he want with me now?

"Santana, would you come downstairs with me?" I knew he wasn't that sweet. He was pissed with me now, I knew it, just by the way he barley looked me in the eyes. I followed him downstairs to the kitchen and took my seat at the kitchen table. "Don't look so frightened." He said trying to lighten the mood.

The problem was I couldn't calm down. I know the look he was giving me, it was the same look my father gave me before he beats the crap out of me. "Mr. Berry sir, you have to know how sorry I am."

"I don't want you to be sorry Santana, I just want to talk to you about…the details of your relationship with my daughter." I looked down at the table. I wasn't used to talking about things like that.

"It's not like…don't call it that." I don't know why I was getting so defensive. It was just that I didn't want to label this.

"Listen, I know it's hard to label things, but I can't let you push my daughter that far without a commitment. I don't want to see her hurt, do you understand that?" He questioned.

"I would never hurt her." I told him sternly. "I could never hurt her…I don't want to label it, but I will if that'll help you trust me."

"She's been hurt a lot. At school people make fun of her; people don't understand that she's amazing-."

"I do. I understand that she's a star. If anyone hurts her, then I'll take care of them. I know you don't know me very well, but I care about Rachel." I think the conversation was done. He gave me a small nod; I know that he saw that I was being honest. I stood up and Mr. Berry looked like he wanted to ask something else but he didn't.

I left him sitting at the kitchen table as I went back upstairs to Rachel's room. "What took you so long?" She asked as she finished up combing her hair.

"Your dad wanted to have a brief talk with me." I explained to her.

"Jesus." Rachel whispered before she rushed over and closed her door behind me. "I'm so sorry; I didn't think he'd do that. What'd he say? Did her threaten you?"

"No nothing like that. He just wants too…can we talk?" I asked as I laid under the covers and begged Rachel to come in next to me. She obliged and we got comfortable under the covers, but I didn't want to sleep. "It's about us."

"I didn't know there was an _us_." She responded playfully.

"This isn't a joke, you know I'm actually being serious here. You have to know that I really want there to be an _us_, and I'm serious about that, but-."

"But?" She questioned waiting for me to respond.

"But, it's hard to make attachments when…when I've been trying to push everyone away." I told her honestly.

"You don't have to push me away. I mean you can't at this point, I've seen more sides of you then you've probably wanted me to." I nodded in understanding. "I like you; I like all sides of you."

"I really want to have sex with you right now." I told her once we'd been cuddling under the covers for awhile.

"Why don't you?" She questioned looking up at me through those thick eyelashes of hers.

"Because I know you're not ready, and I'll wait forever if I have to…I'd do anything for you."

Rachel's POV

When I woke up the spot next to me was empty. I was looking forward to feeling Santana's warm arms around me, but there was just nothing. We had school today, and Santana promised she would go. I got up quickly and ran to Che's room to see if he was still there. Luckily, I found the boy fast asleep in the guest room. He was wearing one of Santana's oversized shirts and mesh shorts. I walked over and sat down as quietly as I could, on the boy's bed. I brushed his hair back and examined his face. Santana must have taken some features from her father, because the way Che had those full lips just like hers made me think there were more similarities between the two than I thought.

"Hola Rachel." Che said suddenly arising from his sleep.

"Hi Che, I didn't mean to wake you, but I was searching for Santana, and I originally thought that she would be in here. My father's have gone off to work and I wanted to see if I could make you both breakfast, but I do not know where Santana has gone." I knew I was rambling; mostly by the way his eyes grew in size with each word I spoke.

"Did Santana leave me again?" Just the way he said those words, made my heart break. I could feel the love he had for his sister, and I just wanted to make everything okay for him.

"No, she would never leave you. She loves you." I assured him. "Tell me about what happened a few weeks ago. When Santana went to get you and took you to your Aunt Garcia's house. What did you father do to you?" This didn't seem like my place, but I just had to know.

"Papa got mad at me." He said before he grabbed onto the covers tighter. "I was looking for my toy. Santana got it for me, and I checked everywhere for it. I went in _mama's _room. No one's supposed to go in there. Papi caught me, and hit me."

"I'm sorry that happened to you Che." I told him, holding his shoulder in a soothing manner.

"It didn't hurt." He said bravely. "Tana never does anything wrong though. He just hits her-."

"You've seen your father hit her?" I asked in astonishment.

"I hear, she tells me to go upstairs…but I hear. Yesterday I was afraid…I tried to stay in the kitchen so Papa wouldn't hurt Tana." He explained. "Ale took me upstairs and I heard them talking…about you."

"About me? What did they say?" I asked.

"Papi thinks Santi is a d-…dyke…. I don't know what that means." Che said sitting up in the bed. "I don't get why she said she doesn't sleep with you, she did last night." I smiled at his comment and it was impossible to hide my blush.

"Do you want some breakfast?" I asked him and he nodded. He wasn't shy at all like Santana could be sometimes, and he followed me downstairs without another question. When I walked into the kitchen Santana was sitting down with a cup of coffee and her English book open. She looked up at me and Che and smiled.

"Sorry for getting an early start, I am still way behind on some of my reading." I nodded in understand and got some cereal and milk for Che. Once he was settled I took a seat next to Santana.

"When I woke up and you were gone I thought you'd gone somewhere. So did Che." I explained to her.

"Hey Chichi, close your eyes." The young boy looked over at Santana and put his hands over his eyes.

"Wha-." Santana kissed me sweetly on the lips before I could even asks what was going on. I smiled into the kiss and Santana deepened it before she pulled back.

"I'm not going anywhere." She promised me before she returned her vision to her book. I smiled like an idiot just watching her, but I couldn't help it.

"Tana and Rachel sittin in a tree k-i-s-s-i-n-g!" All I could do is laugh at Che, but Santana wasn't having it. She chased her little brother around the room yelling words that I couldn't understand, but I knew through her yelling, the only thing she had for Che, was love.


	23. Chapter 23

**emerald0506: Thank you so much for your brilliant review. I hope that this chapter will still keep you interested in the story. The sub plot is over for the most part, it's almost all based on the relationship of Santana and Rachel, as well as Santana and her family. I think I'll also have to keep Brittany, Quinn and Puck part of the story, just to not overlook them.**

**Lovers Lymric Passions Poet: I'll be sure to check out your story I'm sure it's very good. I love Pezberry as much as the next person, they just rock together.**

**Princesakarlita: As always thank you for the support and the review.**

**SilkeLovesSantana: I've been addicted to Pezberry since I started reading fanfiction, they just work so well together.**

**OTHangels: Thank you for the review and here is my update, I hope you enjoy it.**

Santana's POV

I wasn't here to talk. I actually wanted to settle everything with the two things I was way too familiar with, my left fist and my right fist. The problem was, this wasn't my average confrontation, this had to do with an adult. Ms. Pillsbury to be exact. Here's the thing, I was not that upset with the woman, I was more upset that people around the school knew that I was gay. The more people who knew the more paranoid I became. My father couldn't know about me, it would piss him off more than ever.

This is why I was blasting through the hallways like a madwoman, not stopping for anyone. I could here Puck calling my name, but I didn't stop. I didn't want to deal with anything until after I talked to Ms. Pillsbury. "Santana, what are you doing?" Puck reached out and grabbed my arm to stop me just as I was at the door.

"This is none of your business; I need to talk to Ms. Pillsbury." I explained to him, loosening his grip on my arm.

"Ms. Pillsbury is a basically a shrink, and you want to talk to her? No way, what else is this about?" I almost hated Puck for knowing me so well. I pointed to the scar under my eye.

"You see this? I got it because my father thinks I'm queer, and he got that idea from Ms. Pillsbury. That lady needs to learn to shut her mousy face. She shouldn't have been talking to my father about that, or anything." I told him. Puck nodded but then looked around the hallway.

"Did you tell Rachel about this?" Puck asked. I rolled my eyes and nudged him.

"She knows what happened, but I didn't tell her I was gonna talk to strawberry shortcakes about this. She doesn't have to know everything." I told him with a small smirk.

"You're whipped, totally whipped." He said before he walked off to his next class. I told myself I'd talk to him later about what he'd just said, but right now I just opened Ms. Pillsbury's office door. Mr. Shuester was sitting there and he looked like my visit was an annoying interruption.

"Santana, hi." Ms. Pillsbury said just as she put some hand sanitizer on her hands and wrist. "What can I do for you?" She asked. I looked at Mr. Shuester, trying to hint that this was the time for him to leave, but he didn't budge.

"Um…Mr. Shuester this is kinda private." He looked up at me and nodded in understanding. He gave Ms. Pillsbury a small smile and then looked at me.

"Santana, I hope to see you in Glee today." It was more of a question, one that I was not in the mood to answer. That was one guy I could really live without, there was just something about him that rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe Sue was right; it might just be the hair. Once he exited the room, I turned to Ms. Pillsbury.

"You can sit down if you want Santana." She said gesturing towards the chair in front of me. I declined and decided I might as well get right to the point.

"Do you know my father?" I asked her. Her eyes widened but then she quickly regained.

"What exactly is this about-?"

"This is about you fucking outing me to him." I snapped. She looked confused but mostly afraid. "You're supposed to keep things private…he didn't know about _me_." She looked confused, but then the look of understanding spread across her face. She must have remembered the conversation she had with him because she looked more worried than before.

"I don't know what I did, but I think now is as good a time as any to talk about your sexuality-."

"Fuck you, you know nothing about me." I told her. I wanted to grab the chair and those it through the glass standing behind me, but I didn't. If I controlled my anger than she would ask less questions. "Why did you do that? I don't get what made you open your stupid fucking mouth…sorry." I knew I was taking this too far, but she didn't realize what pain she'd caused me.

"Did you tell your father that you are gay?" She asked.

"Don't you get it? I can't!" I slammed my hand down on the desk in front of her. "How many other people know? Teachers I mean, how many of them know?" I asked trying to control my frustrations.

"Only Mr. Shuester and I, I swear." She said and I knew she was being honest.

"Look…" I looked down at my feet and tried to figure out how to say things. "I didn't mean to blow up like that. I just…my dad can't know." I told her.

"How do you feel about things though? I mean have you at least talked to someone about your feelings?" She questioned. I knew now she was just doing her job. She was over her fear, and she just had to be helpful. I took a seat in front of her and breathed in deep.

"I have someone." I told her. "I have a few people actually."

"Who?" I raised an eyebrow. "Everything you say stays here." She promised.

"Puck, Quinn, Brittany and Rachel." Now it was her time to raise an eyebrow. I figured she was very surprised that I had mentioned Rachel's name. "Rachel and I have…gotten very close recently." She didn't understand the hidden meaning, but she did nod and give me a small smile.

"She's a very bright girl. Now I'd like to ask you about that scar under your eye." I froze, I didn't think that anyone would be that interested in what was going on with me. People just assumed that I got into a lot of fights that's why no one asked me anything. Maybe I could be open with Ms. Pillsbury about a few things, but not about the abuse.

"I got into a fight." I lied. I could tell that she didn't believe me. I knew she wouldn't, but she nodded anyway. I looked at the clock above her head and realized that I was five minutes late for glee club. "Um…I gotta go, Mr. Shue will be mad if I'm late." I didn't really wait for a response I just exited the room. I scolded myself for almost opening up about the abuse, but I figured Ms. Pillsbury was going to keep her mouth shut. I needed her to keep her mouth shut.

Rachel's POV

Santana didn't show up to Glee until there was just about five minutes left. She ran by Mr. Shuester muttering something about an important conversation, and then she sat down next to me. "Where ya been Lopez?" Quinn whispered.

"Talking to Ms. P, don't ask why because I'm not gonna tell you." I had an idea as to why Santana had been talking to Ms. Pillsbury and I hoped that she didn't go too far. I knew that Santana and I had a certain sense of trust between us, and if she had gone too far I hoped she would tell me.

"How'd it go?" I looked back at Puck and then to Santana. So she told Puck about this, but not me? That hurt just a little bit more than I expected.

"Fine." Santana said. She looked at me and then down to my hand. Without saying anything to me she intertwined our fingers and then returned her gaze to the front of the room. Glee ended way too soon and Santana stood, I expected her to let go of my hand but she didn't.

"Whipped." Puck said smiling as he walked by Santana in the hall. I giggled a little but when Santana gave me a warning glare I shut up.

"You aren't whipped, don't worry about him." I told her as we exited the school hand in hand.

"I'm not worried about him." She said as we reached her car.

"So are you coming home with me?" I asked with a hopeful grin.

"I can't, my dad wants me home. I can't leave Che there alone, I know you understand that." Santana said leaning against the door. "I'll call you later on." She promised.

"Are you going to be okay? I mean, what makes your father mad-." Santana cut me off before I could finish.

"If it were that easy I wouldn't get the crap kicked out of me once a day." She said with a withheld sinister laugh. "Sometimes it's the way I say something, or how I walk…I'm still holding onto the eyes thing though. It keeps me alive sometimes, thinking about her I mean." She looked away from me and then back at the school. She was avoiding my gaze it was clear, but I didn't know if it was because she didn't want to talk about her father or her mother.

"What was she like?" I asked.

"I…I want to tell you I do, but…I'm not ready." I nodded in understanding. She reached in her pocket for her car keys and unlocked her doors. "I gotta go." She kissed me on the cheek and I blushed ferociously for some reason.

"Call me, remember?" She nodded and kissed me on the lips this time. I watched her drive off and all I could think about was where this relationship was going. I liked her and she defiantly liked me. That had to be all that mattered, because going to deep into the relationship brought up questions that we couldn't answer. I would just have to talk to Santana about this when she called me later, but until then she wouldn't leave my mind.

I was sitting in my room trying to do my math homework. I wished that Santana was there to help me, I could really use her brain right now. That's when my cell phone began vibrate. A smile swept across my face as I reached for the phone and answered it. I was expecting to hear Santana's amazing voice, but instead a loud shriek rang through my ear.

"Rachel! Rachel!" It was Che, there was no mistaking that, but why was he screaming?

"Che? What's wrong?" I asked. I was trying to be calm, but my confidence was slowly fading.

"Rachel! Please Santana's…she's hurt! _Por favor_! She won't move! She's not moving!" My heart dropped and I immediately reached for my house phone. I dialed 9-1-1 without hesitation, and gave the operator Santana's address and told them to hurry to her house.

"Che, calm down, tell me what happened. Is she breathing? Is her chest moving up and down?" I questioned. I got out of my chair and hustled downstairs, I got into my car and drove towards the Lopez house.

"I don't…I can't feel. Tana! Wake up! Wake up _hermana por favor!_" I could hear ruffling on the other end, but I couldn't make out what was going on. All I knew was that I couldn't thank Che enough for calling me, although I wish he would have called the ambulance first.

"Where is your brother? Where is Alejandro?" I asked him.

"He's not here…papa is in his room." He said. He began sobbing and I couldn't stop myself from joining in. Santana was hurt bad, and I was too far away to do anything about it. "I hear sirens, _los salvadores_." I was speeding and talking on the phone and crying. There was no way to stop my hysteria. I just needed to be there for her. I had to.

**Read & Review **


	24. Chapter 24

**SilkeLovesSantana: I know last chapter was very emotional. This one is just as intense, I hope you enjoy it.**

**iGlee: Here's my update I hope you like it.**

**sfdc: I knew it would be frustrating to have Santana be like this, I mean as I'm writing it, I'm also like "Santana just get out of that house!", but I also think the logic is understandable. **

**LPO'G: Well here's the next chapter, now you know what happens next.**

**Blue Cane: I just wanted to have a really intense cliffhanger, I tried to write this as quickly as I could, so enjoy. **

**emerald0506: Your review is brilliant. I really hope to keep hearing from you especially to keep my motivation up. Honestly thank you from the bottom of my heart.**

**Just so there is no confusion, Santana's POV is before Che's call to Rachel. So it's somewhat of a flashback.**

Santana's POV

When I got home, I went straight to my room. I didn't want to see my father or talk to him, I had to call Rachel later on tonight and I wanted to get ready with what I was going to say. I'd never really been this nervous for a stupid phone conversation, but this was different. I thought about what I said earlier, I basically told her we couldn't become official. I was wrong, I was dead wrong. I was done with hiding everything, I liked Rachel and dammit, I was going to show her.

I wasn't scared, I know myself, and I know that I'm not scared. If my father find out that I'm gay then so be it. I was tired of being afraid, I was so tired of everything. I was gay, and I was proud of that, it was who I was. Just because I was gay, it didn't define me, and my father should know that. The problem was we're Catholic, and my father only holds on to certain beliefs. I've heard him say negative things about Kurt, and he called me a _dyke _just a few days ago.

You know what fuck him. I don't care about what he thinks of me, this is about Rachel. I've never felt this way about anyone before, and it's hard to open myself up to anyone. I'm going to ask her to be my girlfriend, that was the end of it. Now it was just about waiting until the perfect time. Right now I can safely bet that Rachel is working on her history homework, and next she'd be working on math. I'd call her when she was struggling through a word problem, but until then I heard a door open downstairs.

"Tana! Tana! Tana!" I smiled to myself and opened my door waiting for my brother to rush up to my room. He came into my room moments later wearing a snug hat I'd bought him with black shorts and a long sleeve button up.

"What's goin on little man?" I asked just as he jumped into my arms.

"I just got back from Auntie Garcia's; Ale took me so we could get some cookies. They were yummy in my tummy. I brought you one!" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a cookie wrapped in foil. I smiled because my little brother was the most thoughtful person I knew. I took the cookie and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you _nino pequino_." I picked him up and placed him on my bed next to my backpack.

"Have you eaten dinner yet?" Che asked. I couldn't believe this, here was my little brother only four years old and he was worried about me eating dinner.

"Is Papa downstairs?" I asked sitting down next to him.

"Yes, he's in the kitchen. Are you afraid to go down with him there. I'll make you a pbbj sandwhich!" He offered jumping up from the bed. He was just about to run out the door and downstairs when I grabbed him around his wrist.

"No, it's alright, I'll eat later." I lied. I wasn't going to eat until my father was far away from the kitchen. "Do you wanna hear a song?" I asked him. He nodded and returned to my bed. I picked him up and placed him on my lap.

"What song are you gonna sing Tana?" He asked.

"It's a song that mama used to sing." Che didn't know that we were half siblings. As far as he knew, we had the same mother, and I liked that he thought that. I wish he'd known my mom, he'd understand how amazing she was.

_Sana, Sana, colita de ran, si no sana hoy, sanas mañana_. It was a short song, it was very easy to sing. It flowed, and I tried to sing it just like my mother had. Hear those words from my mouth felt more natural than anything I'd ever felt before. I remember falling asleep to that song every single night. I remember my mother kissing me on the forehead and telling me that everything would always be okay. Not everything apparently.

I wasn't expecting my father to burst through the door like that. I saw the way he ran at me, and I knew he was drunk. He must have been thinking about my mother like I was. The difference was I loved remembering her, but he hated thinking about her. He smacked me across the face and I quickly went to shield Che with my body.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" He yelled. He grabbed my wrist and tried dragging me away from Che. I held onto my little brother tightly.

"Che run!" I didn't wait for him to hesitate I pushed him away from me and he bolted from my room. My father finally pulled me off the bed and I tried standing up on my feet but then he punched me hard in the gut. I doubled over and fell to my knees. "I didn't do anything!"

"Why were you singing that song? You aren't supposed to sing that song!" He didn't hesitate to hit me while I was down. I could feel the blood running down my chin and I was starting to feel more than woozy.

"Why not? She may have been your wife, but she was my mother-." His hand was wrapped around my neck before I could say anything else. I could feel the anger boiling inside him, but I could also smell the booze. I'd never seen him like this, usually he'd control it, the choking, he'd stop by now.

"You're just a stupid girl, you're nothing." He slammed me to the ground and kicked my in the stomach. I couldn't stop the blood from splattering on the ground in front of me. My vision was blurred but I managed to stop the next kick from smashing my face in. He dropped to his knees and began chocking me again. He was going to kill me.

I never understood how dangerous he was, not until now. He really did think I was nothing, he thought I was worthless. I could feel the air leaving my body, I stopped feeling all together. This is what it felt like to die, reaching the ultimate point of nothingness, and just being released. Dying was the complete loss of control. I was slowly losing control.

I heard screams, but I couldn't see where anything was. I heard footsteps small ones, quiet ones. The footsteps were timid up until a point. It was Che. I wanted to scream out, to tell him to run, but then I realized that my father was no longer in the room. I needed Che to get out of the house, dad could come back and hurt him and there was nothing that I could do to stop him. I couldn't move. Shit. I couldn't move.

Rachel's POV

They wouldn't let me ride in the ambulance with Santana, so I had to follow the truck to the hospital. She went straight to the ICU, I couldn't see her, but I heard that there was a lot of bleeding. I wondered where Santana's father was, I almost wanted him to show up just so I could kill that son of a bitch.

The worst part was the waiting, no one was telling me anything, and I became a frantic pacer. One wall to the other, one blank white wall to the other. No one stopped me, no one reached out to tell me that it would be okay. Puck, Quinn and Brittany showed up only minutes after me, but not one of them said anything. Alejandro was holding Che and telling him over and over that it would be okay. I wanted to hit him, to scream at him. Why didn't he protect her? Why was Santana sitting in a god damn hospital bed? And why the fuck did he keep telling Che that it would be okay, if he didn't know that for certain.

"How bad was it?" Puck asked Alejandro.

"I was out back; I didn't hear anything until the ambulance came. I saw her but…she was facedown." I broke down in tears and Brittany quickly wrapped her arms around me for comfort.

"Is San gonna be okay?" Brittany asked. I'd never seen the ditsy blonde so fragile. She had her arms wrapped around her knees which were pulled up to her chest. She was rocking back and forth, and looked straight down at the ground.

"I don't…I don't know." I told her honestly. The doctor came through the door just as I was getting my last word out. Everyone went silent and everyone looked up at him. Everyone except Brittany who was still in a frantic state of shock. "Is she okay?" I was already standing right in front of him before I knew it. I knew I was violating his space, and his professionalism, but I had to know. "Will she be okay?" I asked him again.

The way he just stood there with his eyes emanating no emotion at all made me mad. How could he not be feeling anything right now? I knew the answer, it was because he saw things like this every single day, and Santana was nothing special to him. I wanted to tell him how much she means to me, he should know what she means to all of us. "She'll be fine." His voice was free of emotion, but it caused every one of us to shout with joy. Puck pulled me in for a tight hug and I didn't let go. Santana was okay, she was going to be alright. "Now, let's not get too excited. She does have a few broken ribs and more than a few cuts and bruises to her face." We all nodded, because it wasn't news to us that she had been hurt bad.

"Is she awake?" I asked him.

"Sorry are you part of the family?" The doctor questioned back.

"I'm her brother, is she awake?" Alejandro asked for me.

"She's still unconscious, she'll be up in a few hours." He promised. "What's your name young man? I need to talk to you about something." He said to Alejandro.

"Listen, can we talk later? I don't want to leave my brother alone." The doctor nodded in understanding, and returned to the room in which Santana was staying.

"Tana's gonna be okay!" Che said running around and jumping up and down. We were all happy and relieved that she would be alright, but none of us could be that happy. We weren't young and naïve like Che, we knew that this wouldn't just go away. There would be lots of questions asked, too many questions asked that we just couldn't answer.

I guess none of that mattered right now, what mattered is that Santana was alive. I couldn't wait to tell her that I loved her. I couldn't wait any longer.


	25. Chapter 25

**Thank you everyone for the reviews, they're all really positive and they keep me very motivated. I think this chapter is a good one, there is less drama, but it's all build up for what's about to happen next. Don't worry I will address the abuse and why it's happening later on, it's not just something out of the blue either. Just a fair warning, after this chapter things might get a little crazy.**

**Enjoy.**

Santana's POV

When I woke up, I had no idea where I was. I thought I was dead actually. I knew I had passed out, but sometimes people just don't wake up from things like that. All I could see was white. I'd seen movies, this is what people saw when they were dead. I guess I had made it to the light, and this was where I would spend eternity. Actually, I would've kept thinking this, but then I turned my head to the side and I saw Rachel. So that's how I knew I wasn't dead, but still it could've been an hallucination, but if I was dreaming I probably wouldn't feel this much pain.

I tried to get out of the bed, but by my first step, I hit the floor. Hard. I thought that I'd lost all use of my legs and I was petrified, but then I realized why I fell. It was because of all the tubes attached to my face and arm. "Santana!" Rachel exclaimed. That was the most beautiful sound I've ever heard. It felt magical hearing her voice again; especially when I thought I'd never hear it again.

"Fuck." I said quietly in pain. A few nurses came in and reattached all of the tubes and plugs before leaving Rachel and I alone. She looked at me and I starred at her. "Wait so I'm alive?" I said as I was checking my pulse. Rachel smiled and jumped out of her seat engulfing me in a tight and very painful hug. "Can't breathe." I said and she quickly let me go. "Ow, why did that hurt so much?" I pressed my hand to my ribs and felt the same pain as before.

"Clearly you need some rest, and I don't blame you after the hell that you've been through. Your father beat the holy hell out of you, and you're darn lucky that Che was there to call me. I got the ambulance there as quick as possible and they took you here. Everyone's out there, everyone thought you were gonna die." I looked up at Rachel.

"Everyone?" It didn't take a rocket scientist to understand what I was getting at, and Rachel didn't even think it over.

"No, he's not out there, and if he was there'd be no holding me back. I'll have you know that I may be small but I can put up one heck of a fight-."

"I love you." I said right out of the blue. Rachel's eyes shot right up to mine. I didn't know what I was doing, I didn't even know it was possible for me to say that, but I just did. Did I say it loud enough? Did she hear me? It was practically impossible for me to throw my whole self out there but something about Rachel made it easier. She sat down right next to me on the bed, I didn't know what to do so I wrapped my arm around her shoulder.

"I-…what'd you say?" She asked shyly.

"I know you heard me." I said looking away from her for just a second. "I can't put myself out there again like that. I've never said…those words to anyone but Che, ever since my mom died." I told her honestly. "I meant it though, I should've said it sooner, but I was afraid. Now I'm not, I don't have time to be afraid, especially not when stuff like _this _happens."

"Stuff like that doesn't have to happen." She told me as she gently wrapped both her arms around my waist and nuzzled up close to me. "Can I confess something?" She asked.

"Yeah."

"I was afraid too." I looked at her slightly astonished but mostly curious. "Maybe in a different way, but I was still afraid. I thought that if I said those words, that I love you, then everything would become so real. The truth is, this changes something, well it changes everything. I love you and because of that, I have to protect you. This abuse, the whole situation you're in has to stop." She said just before she kissed me on the cheek.

"It's not that easy-." She cut me off before I could finish.

"It should've been easy for me. I should've said this from the beginning. I can't stand by and watch you get hurt, I won't. We'll figure something out, we have to." Rachel had that look of determination in her eyes. I'd seen it a million times before in Glee club mostly, but when she had that look nothing was going to stop her from getting what she wanted. I smiled even though I felt plenty of pain in my chest and I felt a few cuts on my face.

"So do you know what would make me feel much better?" I asked after a long while of us just lying there cuddled up in one another's arms.

"Hm, what?" Rachel asked.

"A kiss. Just one." I said with a goofy grin. Rachel obliged and before I knew it we were making out. I knew this wasn't exactly the proper method of healing but it seemed to be working for me. The only problem were these stupid cords that kept getting in my way.

A loud cough erupted in the room and Rachel and I shot our heads up just to spot Quinn, Puck, Brittany, Che and Ale coming into the room. Alejandro had his hands over Che's eyes, and Puck was hooting and hollering along with Quinn who seemed to have a more positive outlook on Rachel now. Brittany looked sad and she was rocking back and forth on her heels which was one of her shy habits.

"San, I feel so bad about your ribs. Now what are you gonna eat?" You could've heard the laughter for miles. Everyone had smiles on their faces as every one of my friends and brothers came up to me and wrapped me into tight and painful hugs. I smiled because everyone I loved was there; it wasn't something I was used to. The best part though was that Rachel didn't leave my side. I didn't realize how much I needed her, not until now.

Rachel's POV

I had to let Santana have some alone time with Che. I didn't like leaving her not even for a second, but Che was insisting that he wanted to spend some time with her. I was sitting out in the waiting room with just Puck and Quinn. Alejandro had gone to his aunt's house to see what the arrangements would be this time. Brittany was buying every snack imaginable because she was convinced that vending food was part of a healthy diet.

Puck stood up from where he was seated and took a call for the third time since we'd been at the hospital. He went out the door and I looked over at Quinn curiously. "What's all that about? His pool cleaning business or something?" I questioned. Quinn just shrugged and looked over at Puck again.

"Probably, who knows when it comes to him. I can't believe I slept with that idiot." She said rolling her eyes as an afterthought. I didn't know if she wanted me to comment or she was just getting her thoughts out in the open. "So Che called you? That really means a lot." I looked up at Quinn and shook my head unconvincingly.

"He called from Santana's phone; it was probably the last number she called." I said. "He sounded terrified; just imagine being there and being so young. He thought she was dead, I could hear it in his voice." I explained to her.

"Does anyone want _Doritos_? I don't eat Mexican food." Brittany said as she walked into the room with at least thirteen bags of chips in her hands. I snatched a bag for myself and one for Quinn. Puck walked into the room behind Brittany with a scowl on his face.

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

"I'm out of here, when my girl Lopez asks tell her I'm out grabbing a bite to eat." He grabbed his coat and began zipping it up.

"Wait where are you going?" Quinn asked grabbing him by the collar.

"Out." Puck snapped. I could tell that he was frustrated but I didn't understand why.

"Out where?" I asked him more calmly then Quinn had. Puck looked around and then sighed loudly.

"I've got a connection. He's a guy I met in juvie…look he says he'll get me a gun." I should've been angry at Puck for going to that level. This was against all my morals, but I think I left those behind a while ago.

"Puck!" Quinn said. "What do you think you're going to do with that? Protect Santana?"

"No I'm gonna kill her dad." Puck said without looking at anyone else.

"But killing is bad." Brittany said in a confused tone.

"Puck you can't. Listen." He tried to turn away from me but I wouldn't let him. "Listen to me. We'll get that bastard but not like this. I promise…don't do anything stupid." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Fine." He said plopping down next to Quinn. "Fine, but you'd better come up with a way, and soon. I have a gut feeling that Sr. Lopez is on his way."


	26. Chapter 26

**Thanks for the reviews guys, here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoy it. I've been kind of rushed because of school but I think this story will probably wrap up in the next two to three chapters, so you'll just have to see how it ends. Enjoy. **

Santana's POV

"Breadsticks anyone?" I jumped out of the hospital bed and ran over to Puck snatching the food out of his hands and running back to the bed. Che jumped on the bed and tried taking a breadstick from me, at first I was reluctant because I wanted it all to myself, but I allowed him to have half of one.

"Jeez, Santana you got time to breathe?" Quinn asked. "You're inhaling those disgusting things like a animal." I rolled my eyes and continued eating. She didn't know what it was like being deprived of normal food for a week, I was glad to have anything let alone Breadsticks.

"Fuck off Fabray." I mumbled in between bites.

"So today is the big day. You're coming home little sis." Alejandro exclaimed. There was just a little problem with his whole excitement. No one knew what _home _meant anymore. I didn't know if I'd be going to live with Alejandro and Che, or somewhere else. I'd been in the hospital before but usually my father would show up, but he hadn't yet.

"But what does that mean?" I asked him seriously.

"We aren't talking about this in front of everyone." Ale said between clenched teeth. That was just like him, to try and cover up for my dad. Everyone in here knew what he had done, it wasn't new information.

"Fine…Britt, Q, Puck and Che could you guys excuse me and my idiot brother for a second." Everyone left without question and Rachel, Ale and I were left in the room. Alejandro looked at Rachel with a scowl. I could tell that he didn't want her there, but I reached out my arm and wrapped it around her waist showing that I wasn't about to let her go.

"What do you think is gonna happen?" Alejandro asked. "Child services is going to come in here today, and what are you going to say? If you lie, then you go back to him with Che and I…but if you tell the truth that'll be a hell of a lot worse."

"How could her being safer be worse in any way?" Rachel snapped.

"Because if those child services people find out what's been going on then Santana's gone. She's out of here. They'll set her up with some foster family across the country, and they'll ship Che off too." The reality of the situation hadn't sunken in to Rachel yet, that was clear by the way she had tensed up. She wanted my father to pay for what he'd done, and for me to get out of there, but she didn't think about where I would go.

"She can live with me-." Alejandro cut her off before she could completely finish.

"And what about Che? Are your parents going to let him stay there too? I know you care about her, but you can't separate them both." Ale's words hurt. Was he really willing to save my father's reputation if it meant me getting hurt? Well why not that's how things worked before.

"I have an idea." I said shutting them both up. "I know how we can fix this, I know how I can fix everything-."

"Hey guys, how is everything going?" I thought that my ears had betrayed me. It couldn't be my father, not here and defiantly not now. But when I saw him, standing there in the threshold of the door, there was no denying it. My dad was here, and there was no place to run. I could still make this work, I know I had a way.

Rachel's POV

"Get out! Get the fuck out of here before I call the police!" I already had my phone out to call just to show that bastard that it wasn't a empty threat. Santana pulled me onto the bed so I was sitting next to her and she held onto my waist tighter. I didn't know if she was afraid or she wanted to calm me down, but the truth was it worked. I put my phone away, but I didn't lose my attitude. "You can't just show up here out of the blue to take her home, in fact you won't be taking anyone home." Rachel assured him.

"What are you doing here?" Santana asked her dad before she looked over at Ale. "You haven't showed up all week. I don't want to hear anything from you, not your stupid apologizes either. They're bullshit and you know it. You see now I understand, I didn't get it before. I wanted to make excuses for you; I thought you were hitting me because of mama's death…you hit me because I remind you too much of her." Santana was spot on, I could tell by the way her father's face scrunched up and he looked down at the ground. "You hated seeing me everyday because it was too much to bear. I get it, I understand the longing the pain that you feel in your chest…I lost her too, but I don't understand why you had to hurt me too." Santana wanted to cry, but she didn't.

"Just get your clothes and come home okay." He said with an unstable voice.

"No, I won't. Not now and not ever." The door to her room opened and I half expected Noah to come running in with a gun and blow Mr. Lopez's brains out, but instead a man clad in a cheap suit and with a clipboard strolled in. His nametag read: Samuel Weathers from Child Services.

"Santana Lopez, My name is Sam from Child services." The man said practically stepping right in front of Mr. Lopez. "I'd like to discus what brought you hear to the hospital." Santana looked me in the eyes and right then I knew she was going to do the right thing.

"Nothing happened…I get into fights, this one I lost, bad, that's all." Wait what? I thought she was going to spill everything, I thought she was going to tell him about the abuse. The look that she was giving me was one that said 'trust me on this', but I just couldn't.

"Are you sure?" He questioned writing something down on his pad. Of course she wasn't sure, she was lying. If Puck were in here he would've told this idiot that Santana was lying.

"Yes." She said firmly.

"Mr. Lopez, please sign this…and you both can be on your way." Mr. Lopez signed a piece of paper without hesitation, and Samual Weathers left without another word.

"Thank you." Mr. Lopez said.

"For what?" Santana asked as she swiftly changed her clothes under the blankets and stood up to pull on her shoes. She didn't have me wrapped in a hug anymore, she hadn't looked at me at all in the past five minutes. I could see how angry she was, I could see that she wanted to tell the child services guy something.

"For protecting my reputation." Santana gave him a smug smirk like she knew something he didn't.

"Listen you fucking asshole, here's what's going down. You're giving up full custody of Che and me, no questions asked. You can stay in this town, you can get remarried for all I fucking care, but if you step within a hundred feet of me, I'll cut off your hands and make sure you don't touch anyone _ever_. I'm not asking you because this is what you're going to do." I looked at him with the same glare that Santana had and stood slightly behind her for support. "I bet you thought you could break me, I bet you thought that if I was some completely broken kid then I'd stop reminding you of her. Well you were wrong, you can't break me, you can't break _la hia de Maria Lopez_." Santana looked back at me and smiled, like I'd never seen her smile before.

"I'm sorry for what I've-." I walked up to him and smacked him clear across his face. The sound echoed through the room, but no one said anything to stop the startling noise.

"Try apologizing a million times, try crying and screaming out because you can't escape the pain. Try putting yourself in your daughter's shoes and then maybe you'll understand why you could never apologize enough." I didn't like speaking for Santana, or trying to put her emotions into words, but when Santana gripped my hand, I knew that she didn't mind me saying those things.

"We're going now, you can say goodbye to Alejandro, maybe he'll stay with you." Santana paused to look at her brother. "But don't waist your breath talking to Che or me, we've had enough of you." Santana had pulled me to the door with her, holding my hand and then wrapping her arm around my waist once we'd reached the threshold. "Oh and by the way, this is Rachel Berry, I love her. I'd thought you'd beat the love out of me…I guess I was wrong."


	27. Chapter 27

**Just to address something quickly. Santana's father is a monster, he's the worst kind of human, but he's much different than most types of abusive people. The abuse was not about control, it was never about that. The reason why he was able to let Santana leave the hospital was that she stood up to him. He was afraid of that because she'd never done that before. Also, the child services guy just letting the whole thing go without asking very many questions, does happen, trust me I know. When people in social services are swamped, it's very hard for them to care as deeply about every single child. Anyway, enjoy this chapter; we're getting close to the end.**

**This chapter is shorter than the rest, but here ya go. **

Santana's POV

"So you're just leaving?" Rachel asked for the third time in just as many minutes. I didn't look back at her while I was packing all of my things, I just couldn't. She didn't understand and I knew she never would. I zipped my duffle bag and pulled it over my shoulder. "But you said you loved me." She said with tearing forming in her eyes. I looked down at my feet and then back at her.

"I meant it." I told her before I wrapped her into a warm hug. She held onto me before she pulled back and wiped her eyes. "I have to take Che someplace safe. My father wants me to come back and live with him…he's says on more chance. That's just a chance I can't take. It's the only way I'll be safe." I explained, but I knew she already understood this. She's the brightest person I know, and I know she wants me to be safe. Che and I bought tickets on a bus headed to New York in three hours. We were going to live with my mom's sister and her two daughters, at least until I can find a stable job and then maybe I'll be off on my own. Who knows?

"My heart is breaking." That was just like Rachel, the biggest drama queen on this planet. How could someone's heart break over someone as insignificant as me?

"I love you." Once I had said it a few times, it came much easier. It was so easy to be in love with Rachel, just because she was everything good there was in this world. I didn't like thinking about what it would be like without her, I just wanted to remember the way it was. The way she made me feel safe even though I was completely vulnerable to everything around me. I could never forget those beautiful eyes of hers, the way she was looking at me now with so much adoration, that I had to wrap my arms around her again.

"Show me." Rachel whispered in my ear. I pulled back and looked into her eyes because I was unsure of what she meant. "If you love me, show me." I pulled my duffle over my head, and placed it slowly on the ground, never breaking eye contact with Rachel. I framed her face with my hands before I kissed her sweetly on the lips. She wrapped her arms around me neck as I guided her towards her bed.

I began to deepen the kiss when I realized that this might be the last time I saw her. I just wanted to make love to her, to show her how much I wanted and adored everything about her. "Is this okay?" I asked in between kisses. Rachel nodded and I began unbuttoning her blouse. She didn't protest or break the kiss when I straddled her hips. I laid her down and began peppering kisses all down her neck. I couldn't help but notice how toned her abs were as I was running my hands down her side.

I let my hand wander up to her breast and I didn't squeeze hard at first, but the noising imitating from that Broadway mouth of her made me go crazy. I made a trail of kissing down to her nipple and began sucking, she practically screamed out when I nibble down a little. Rachel lifted her body slightly so I could peel off her jeans. I didn't want to hurt her so I began kissing her again when I slipped on finger into her panties. "Jesus Christ." I mumbled into her mouth.

"What?" She asked breathlessly. I ran my finger over her folds and couldn't believe how wet she was.

"You're wet as fuck." I said smiling into the kiss. I pressed down on her clit and a loud moan escaped her lips. "That's a sound I can get used to hearing." I said as I pressed down hard. She was making sounds that I couldn't predict and it was making me insane.

"Shut up and fuck me." Rachel whispered and then I let my finger enter her. Slowly, I began moving deeper inside her until I couldn't go any deeper. I held my finger there and started sucking on her bottom lip. "Stop teasing." She demanded, and I stopped. I pulled out of her and in a second, I was back in. She was quiet now, she was gripping her pillow behind her like no tomorrow and the way she spread her legs wider made me kiss her harder. "…oh god…christ…Santana I'm about to-." Her walls tightened around my finger and she moaned into my mouth.

I didn't remove my hand from inside her, not until her breathing slowed and she opened her eyes. I didn't mind laying with her for awhile after, I felt sort of strange because I was still fully clothed. "I…that was…" It was still very strange anytime Rachel was just speechless, it made me flustered and I didn't do well in that state.

"Don't try and describe it…you're amazing." I told her before kissing her on the cheek.

"You have to go." Rachel said once we'd been lying there for a little over a half an hour. "You'll come back…for me right? You can't just tell me you love me and leave me."

"I'll come back for you, I don't know when, but I will." I grabbed my duffle and pulled it over my shoulder. "Sorry about this." I said kind of chuckling to myself.

"About what?" Rachel asked standing in front of me even though she was only wearing her panties and nothing else.

"This is not romantic…I like hit it and then I'm leaving." I explained to her with a blush.

"You're coming back though…I think that long distance love and longing is the most romantic thing there is." Rachel exclaimed wrapping her arms around me.

"You saved me." I said warily. "I always thought that I was the tough one. I always had to protect other people, but you protected me. Who would've thought that Rachel Berry would be my superhero?"


	28. Chapter 28

**These next chapters are shorter because I want to do one POV at a time. Anyway here's Rachel after Santana left. Hope you enjoy!**

Rachel's POV

It was so easy just going numb. I thought it would be hard; I really did, because without her there it was like I had to force myself to stop feeling. It had been six days since she left, and my fathers had to drag me out of bed. It was terrifying to look at myself in the mirror the way my eyes had completely dulled. I didn't want to hate her for leaving me, I guess that's why I tried to forget her. When I realized that wouldn't work a day after she'd left, I simultaneously understood that forgetting her would never work.

"She left?" I looked up and saw Brittany walk up to me with her head low and her posture slumped. She wasn't wearing her Cheerios uniform, and I looked around to make sure that Sue was nowhere in sight.

"Brittany, where's your uniform?" I asked her. I didn't want her to get in trouble with Sue, that woman might kill her.

"I quit…I only continued because I thought I could cheer San up sometimes." Brittany said blankly starring at the locker behind me. "Quinn quit too…" Brittany said looking back at the other blond who was currently throwing her book angrily in her locker.

"Santana is going to be very upset when she finds out that you two quit because of her." I explained to Brittany. I've never actually seen the look of pure indifference on Brittany's face but that's how she looked now. "She hasn't picked up her phone, she won't text back. I don't get it, it's not right to do that. Especially after what happened." I waited for Brittany to ask what happened, but she didn't.

"She loves you, that's what she told me before all of this happened. Even when you were still dating Finn, she said that she thinks she might love you." I didn't look at Brittany now, because I had no idea what to say. I thought Santana hated me before we got to know each other, she sure acted like it. Then again, now that I understand her, I think it was just a way to keep me at a distance.

"She promised me she'll come back." I told her. "I trust her enough to know that she'd never lie to me about that."

"I didn't really see you as the coffee type." I told Noah as he sipped his hot drink slowly. I watched him intently until he cleared his throat loudly to get my attention.

"She hasn't called has she?" Noah questioned.

"She will." I told him as I held the coffee in my hands just to warm them up. "Have you talked to Alejandro? I heard that you two used to be really close, like brothers." He shook his head no and looked out the window.

"No, he's different…it used to be like that. I was part of their family, but when he realized he couldn't protect Santana, he distanced himself from me. I hear he's staying at the house, my dad said Mr. Lopez resigned and he'll probably skip town."

"He should be in jail." I snapped.

"Chill out princess." Noah said rolling his eyes at my angry demeanor. His phone began buzzing so loud that it startled me. He answered it quickly but didn't leave to speak alone. I assumed that it was his parents or maybe Quinn. "Lopez, what the fuck?" It was Santana and I couldn't believe it. Why did she call Noah though? I thought I'd be the one she'd call first.

"Speaker! Put it on speaker." I demanded. Noah obliged and a huge smile crept across my face when I heard Santana's voice.

"Cool it Puck, I didn't call because I had to take care of some things. You're not the one to start talking about patience you ass." Now I was full on grinning. Santana still had her quick wit and sass.

"Where are you?" Puck asked. New York obviously, it had been six days. It may have taken eight ours for her to get there, but it would never take six days.

"None of your business." Santana quipped. "So tell me how Rachel is? And I swear if you start talking about how hot she is I'm going to first agree with you but then kick your ass all the way to the east side in Lima Heights." Now I was full on giggling.

"Come on Lopez, just because you can't shut up about her, doesn't mean I have to." I could sense the jealousy from the other line without even seeing Santana.

"Wait where are you?" Santana asked.

"Cleaning a pool." Noah lied.

"Bullshit, it's all of four degrees outside…whatever you don't have to tell me where you are. Have you seen my rosary beads?" My head popped up and Noah looked just as confused as I was.

"Are you gonna be a fucking nun or something? Why do you need rosary beads?" Noah asked.

"They aren't mine, dipshit…they're my mothers…I mean they were hers." Santana sighed to ease the tension, but it was still there. I could tell that it was still very uncomfortable when she talked about her mother. She never told me how she died, but I knew it must have been something horrible to experience. "Look if you find them then send them to me alright. The street is like Quentin and Ward or something like that, I'll get you the details later."

"Sure yeah that works, I gotta go." Santana said. "And one last thing, don't tell Rachel about this conversation. I mean it Puck, don't. She'll be mad when she finds out I called you and not her." He looked right into my eyes and nodded. I couldn't even listen when they exchanged goodbyes. How could she do that to me? I thought she cared about me.

"Rach!" Noah was trying to stop me but he couldn't. I was heartbroken. I didn't think Santana would ever make me feel so stupid. Was this whole thing just about sex? It was stupid of me to think that it was anything more. I hate myself for trusting her. I hated her.


	29. Chapter 29

**And here it is, the last chapter. I hope you all have enjoyed this story, it was very fun for me to write. It might have gotten dark at times, but I hope this ending makes some people happy. I already have an idea for my next Pezberry story so keep your eyes out guys.**

Santana's POV

I knew my mother was someone special. She was more than special actually. I remember trying to be just like her when I was younger, right down to the way she rolled her 'r'. I couldn't be her, mainly because I was a tomboy and I was far from perfect. I wish I had got to know her better, I wish she could see me now. I stopped believing that she was up their watching over me, because I know she wouldn't be able to watch what things have become. None of that really mattered because I was here. I was bundled up in my leather jacket, scarf and beanie rocking skinny jeans and boots. It was cold but that didn't matter to me. What mattered was that I was standing in front of my mother's grave, and this was the only way I could talk to her.

I wanted to tell her about how afraid I sometimes got when my father got angry. About how my whole childhood was shattered and broken into pieces that could never be mended together. Mostly importantly, I wanted to tell her about Rachel and how much I loved her.

I heard shuffling of feet behind me, and I didn't even have to turn around to know who it was. "I hoped you'd show." I turned and wrapped my arms around Rachel's neck and she hugged me back just as tight. I'd missed her, even if it'd only been seven days. All that matter was that she was here.

"Well to be honest last night I went on an absolute rampage and cursed you in ways I didn't even think were imaginable, and then I realized what you meant. The rosary beads meant you'd be at this Catholic cemetery and Quentin and Ward is where it's located." I smiled while keeping my hands on her waist.

"See I knew you'd get it, you're a genius." I told her. She began staring at me intently and I realized it was because she wanted an explanation. "Che's in New York, my mom's side of the family topples my dad's side in genuine understanding and love. He's starting up preschool and everything." I couldn't keep the grin off my face when explaining Che. I was just so proud of him not only for being brave but also for keeping me sane.

"So what about you? Are you going to school there?" I couldn't help but smile at this. I loved when I knew things that Rachel didn't. She had those giant chocolate eyes that oozed curiosity and I couldn't wait to tell her.

"Rach, I'm not just coming back for a quick visit." I explained to her. I grabbed her hand and we began walking through the cemetery like it was a normal action. "I'm staying here…with Puck which is gonna be wild…but I'm staying." Rachel jumped into my arms and once I had reached a point where I didn't think I could breathe because she was smothering me I had to pull back.

"I can't believe this! Really? Because if this is a joke you need to tell me now, because if I find out that it is I'll have to kill you. There will be no other way to live if this is some crude attempt at humor-."

"It's no joke." I told her earnestly. It felt so good to make Rachel smile like that. I loved her smile, the way her eyes lit up too. She was the most beautiful thing on the planet. "I mean I'll visit my little bro on some weekends and over breaks, but I realized that I had to finish things up here before I could just leave…and by that I really mean, I couldn't leave you." Rachel dipped her head low trying to hide her blush but I captured her lips with mine briefly, before she could say anything.

"This is a huge step for you to take." Rachel said in her very mature analytical way.

"No the huge step was you taking a chance on me. I mean think about how badly all this could have ended up. You stuck with me though. I'm sure this is just another challenge that Miss Rachel Berry has successfully won." I'm not usually shy or passive about anything. Trying to express my feelings openly with Rachel was beginning to feel more natural though. I think I could handle this.

"So you're going to live with Noah?" Rachel said after a long while of us just walking back through the cemetery gates and to her car.

"Yeah it'll be interesting to say the least." I said with a smirk. "I'm sure I can find a way to get my cuddle on with you baby girl." Her eyes shot up to mine and she held a small grin on her face. "What?" I asked.

"That term of endearment…I really like it." She confessed.

"You mean _baby girl_? Well I'll call you that more often then." I assured her.

"So would you call me that in front of other people, I mean kids at school?" I could tell where this conversation was going. It was about labeling us as an _us. _I started laughing to myself but Rachel didn't seem to find all the humor.

I pressed Rachel back against her car and looked into her eyes. "I love you and I want to make you mine. So Rachel Barbra Berry, will you be my girlfriend?" Rachel smiled mostly because I was being charming but also because I had used her entire name.

"Yes." She said without hesitation. I wrapped my hands around her waist and pulled her in for another kiss. "I can't believe you're staying and you love me and you're my girlfriend."

"Well believe it baby girl." I intertwined our fingers wondering if my whole world would change. Sure I didn't live with my father anymore, and Che was a couple of hours away. Rachel was the one thing that I could count on to make me happy right now, and I needed to hold onto that for support. I didn't care if people knew about us, the important thing is that I could be openly happy and there was nothing anyone could do to stop me. I looked up at the grey sky above us, wondering just for a second if my mother really was up there looking down at me. I shook my head and cleared my throat. I didn't need a guardian angel, I just needed Rachel. "Now come on, I hear breadsticks is open till midnight, let's see how much I can eat."


	30. Author's Note

**Hi,**

**So I was wondering if you guys would want another chapter for this story? It was my first fic, and based on the number of views only, the most people have checked this out. I was just wondering if anyone would be interested if I posted one more chapter?**

**If not, and you like pezberry, brittana, paily, or quinntana then I've got stories for all those ships.**

**Thank you,**

**JesterChester**

**p.s. my tumblr is: bacon-lauren-tamsin, if you have more questions.**


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